Acquired Taste
by Marshmellowtime
Summary: When all you wanted to do is try and make a world where ghouls and humans could live together peacefully, it doesn't really help when everyone keeps trying to kill or eat each other. "Is it really so hard to...y'know, not eat people?" "Want to try not eating anything but coffee for a few days?" "Fair enough." Ghoul!Haikyuu Oc/?
1. Taste

**What better way to celebrate coming back to this site than making a new story :') Hope you all enjoy and thanks for checking it out!**

 **Without further ado I bring to you,**

 **A Marshmellowtime Productions...**

 **I do not own Haikyuu.**

* * *

 **Acquired Taste**

Chapter One:

Flavored

" _Adj; tasting of a certain way."_

* * *

There were a lot of ways to describe the word normal.

For everyone the definition was different. Normal for one person could be making their way out of bed and slipping on their clothes to head to another day of work. For another person, normal could be constantly running from cops or living out on the streets.

"Mark this as case thirty-five, binge eater."

"Yes, sir."

For some, the word _normal_ could involve waking up in the morning to get ready for work and trying to keep fellow humans safe from being eaten.

Chiyo blew a sigh through her lips, a frown marring her features as flashes flared and the detectives before her snapped shots of the crime scene. Despite the countless amounts of times she'd been forced to see the sights of the mangled bodies and halfhearted remains, it never ceased to make her grimace or tug at her heart when families were informed and the bodies were carried off.

The sky was overcast above them. Clouds loomed overhead as if waiting for their moment to burst and shed down the tears people couldn't. Pale blue eyes watched the sheet fall over the bloody remains and Chiyo ran a hand through her dark brown, nearly black locks, adjusting her ponytail.

 _Young female, early twenties..._ Notes were scribbled onto paper as the sound of tires squealed and she hurried her efforts before the news reporters started to swarm the area and snap pictures that were only needed to instill more fear into people about the monsters lurking in the shadows. _And that's not what I need with what I'm trying to do..._

"We checked her identification," her senior investigator, Sugawara began. The young man was dotted with gentle features that belonged behind desk work instead of field infiltrations, but wherever the team went the man insisted on going, even though Daichi often had him behind the screen to monitor things. He ran a hand through his silver locks and sighed, thumbing the license in his hand where the image of the girl before them gazed back. "Looks like she lived alone and worked in a coffee shop down the street, parents passed away in a car accident a few years ago, no siblings."

Chiyo jotted this all down with a nod, keeping an attentive ear on the details as she spoke up again, trying not to show the hopefulness she felt. "Could that mean the ghoul that did this was purposely trying to target someone who wouldn't leave too much of an impact?"

Sugawara threw her a faintly disapproving look, understanding where she was trying to go with her question. " _Possibly_ , but it's more likely it was just convenient for the binge eater."

A sly smirk and devilish eyes flashed through her mind, Chiyo's pen pressing a little harder into the paper as her lips turned downwards into a grimace. "How do we know it's the binge eater?"

"Her hands were left behind," a voice beside her quipped, and Tanaka scowled as he shook his head. "They were left with her fingers curled into a heart shape."

Chiyo's pen slid to the side, leaving a streak of ink across the paper.

 _That son of a..._

"Hinata!"

"Y-Yes!" A bouncing ball of bright orange appeared in her view and her fellow investigator, Tanaka, whirled around with his briefcase in hand as he jutted a finger toward the first year intern.

"Take Kageyama and go scare of the reporters before they start swamping this place!"

"Yes, sir!" Hinata exclaimed. His eyes darted toward Chiyo and he added, "Chiyo-senpai would you like me to bring you a coffee later as well?"

 _God bless the sweethearts we have in this program._ Chiyo smiled warmly, ruffling Hinata's unruly locks and shaking her head. "I'm fine, thank you. Try not to piss Tobio of this time, all right?"

"I'll do my best!" The younger boy quickly darted off to go drag his fellow brooding investigator along. Chiyo watched as the bright orange disappeared from view and turned back to the scene before her with a sense of annoyance and disgust curling in the pit of her stomach.

"Son of a bitch thinks he can make a fool of us... Damn, him!" Tanaka snapped, saying her own thoughts aloud and waving his briefcase around threateningly. "Who does he think he is, huh? He isn't even good enough to make a quinque out of!"

"Don't let it get to you," Daichi sighed, shaking his head as he slipped his hand into his pocket and nodded toward some other investigators. "What's done is done; we can only try harder to prevent this from happening again."

"Spoken like a true captain," Chiyo mused.

"And as _captain_ I expect your reports to be in first thing tomorrow morning, Akisame," Daichi added, throwing her a meaningful glance as Chiyo grimaced and Tanaka snickered beside her.

"Yes, _captain_."

In all honesty, she rather liked her job at the CCG as a ghoul investigator. Despite the lifeless remains and sorrowful news she had to bring to families and loved ones, it was a job she truly took pride in and did her best towards. When she was younger and most girls her age wanted to be princesses and presidents, she bragged about how she was going to become a ghoul investigator—at first she did consider the idea of running an ice cream shop but ghoul investigating was just a little more rewarding. Though when she'd gone through the long days at the academy, she had to work extra hard considering her weapon choice was a simple gun with quinque bullets instead of an actual quinque like most investigators.

The moment the subject had been brought to her she'd shaken her head and calmly set her foot down with a few choice words and maybe a few scathing retorts. It was just personal preference, really, but using those weapons never sat right with her, especially considering that they were _made_ from ghouls, it just felt...wrong. Even if it was the best weapon they had against them, it didn't make it any more justifiable.

While some people joined the program in hopes that they could avenge loved ones and protect their families, Chiyo had joined with a sole ambition in mind.

To make a world where ghouls and humans could coexist together.

Everyone apart of the Karasuno team was generally accepting of her ideals. While some had regarded it more warily than others—Daichi and Asahi had stared at her as if they feared for her life while Sugawara patted her on the back and offered her his support—it took more convincing for people like Tanaka and Nishinoya to realize no, she wasn't out of her mind. Hell, even the newbies had a few cents to put in—Tsukishima had looked at her as if she was stupid while Yamaguchi looked concerned for her sake. Hinata being the sweetie that he was had proudly told her he thought her idea was awesome while Kageyama gazed at her for several minutes before saying he hoped she didn't die before them.

 _You and I both, buddy._ Chiyo sighed once more, clicking her pen and flipping her notebook shut as the sound of sirens wailing in the distance grew closer and muttered voices began to draw near. People weren't making her job any easier.

"Akisame! Get some notes on the remains over here!"

Then again, neither were the ghouls.

* * *

"I told you, stop kissing up to the seniors!"

"I'm not kissing up! I'm trying to be nice! You should try it sometime, _King._ "

" _What_ did you say?"

"Try not to kill each other," Chiyo called over cheerfully as Hinata and Kageyama broke out once more into another squabble beside her desk. "Investigators are hard to come by as it is, we don't need killing amongst ourselves when we have ghouls hunting us down."

"We're not being hunted down!" Tanaka snapped, his body lurching through the doorway of her office as he jutted a finger at her. "This is war!"

"Tanaka-san, finish those reports!"

The investigator grimaced, mumbling under his breath as he slunk away. Chiyo made a mental note to try and convince Sugawara to convince Daichi to get some sort of screen door placed between the office cubicles so she could finish her reports in peace—in reality she was typing up speeches and devising plans to convince the top chiefs about her ideas and programs to help humans and ghouls live peacefully—without Tanaka knocking over another vase of flowers.

 _Flowers._ Her fingers halted over the keys, her face suddenly setting into a sour grimace as they turned toward the bright flowers gazing back at her. The vase was brimming with pansies, the gentle looking flowers only deterred by a single flower in the middle—rhododendron? A brief frown touched her lips and Chiyo quickly opened a tab and began to type in the flowers, scrolling through as bodies appeared on either side of her and a milk tea was placed at her side.

"What are you looking at, Akisame-senpai?" Hinata inquired curiously.

"Shouldn't you be finishing reports instead of looking up flowers?"

"I didn't have these flowers yesterday," Chiyo responded dryly. "Suga, did you change the vase on my desk?"

"I did!" A head of silver peeked over from a few cubicles down and the man offered her a warm smile. "Someone left you the flowers so I put them in a vase. I hope you don't mind!"

"Not at all," Chiyo halted her scrolling, eyes skimming over the definition of the flowers before she grimaced. "Could you do me a favor and throw them away next time though?"

Sugawara blinked once, looking painfully confused before he nodded and slowly sank back into his desk. Chiyo let out a groan and pinched the bridge of her nose, shutting her eyes so she didn't have to see the face coming to mind as Hinata and Kageyama curiously peeked over her shoulders.

"Loving thoughts and..." Hinata frowned. "Beware?"

"Akisame-senpai, I think you have a stalker." Kageyama said thoughtfully; face serious as he turned to the dark brown haired woman beside him.

Chiyo simply groaned, waving them away as she shook her head. "Just some idiot who's biting off more than he can chew...dumbass..."

"Senpai, if you need any help, I'll be glad to walk home with you!" Hinata offered eagerly, eyes growing bright as he practically began to bounce up and down. "You don't have a quinque, right? I'll protect you!"

"Idiot, what can _you_ do?" Kageyama snapped. "You barely passed your exams during academy—"

"I scored higher on physical statistics than you! I'd like to see you try and run faster than me!"

"I won't _need_ to run. I'll be fighting those ghouls—"

"Did someone say stalker?" Nishinoya exclaimed, skidding to a halt beside them as Chiyo frowned.

"I really need a door or something..."

"I need to tell Kiyoko-chan! Kiyoko-chan!"

Chiyo idly reached over and grabbed the vases, throwing the flowers a slightly apologetic glance before she plucked them from their place and threw them into Tanaka's trashcan.

"Is there anymore news on the binge eater?" Hinata prodded eagerly, looking up from where he was fending off an annoyed Kageyama. "When are we going to launch and infiltration for Aoba Josai—"

"We don't launch infiltrations unless there is need to," Chiyo answered curtly. Hinata looked rather chastised and she added more gently, "most of the gangs have been regulating themselves as of late, but there are still ghouls doing as they please... And yes, sort of. The Grand King seems to be changing target preferences, but we'll need more data before we can say for sure."

"The Grand King..." Kageyama muttered, his eyes narrowing as he gripped the brief case at his side tighter. "We'll take him down for sure."

"He could definitely pull back on his... _habits_." Chiyo grimaced. "I try to keep an open mind since ghouls have got to eat and there's nothing we can do with that, but there has to be a way to stop this..."

Her eyes glanced upwards to find Kageyama and Hinata taking in the map she had plastered above her cubicle pin pointing ghoul locations and sightings, as well as mapping out rough sketches of boundaries between certain groups in different areas rather greedily, their eyes taking in information only authorized to more senior members. Chiyo couldn't help but selfishly wish that they would be looking at those files thinking the way that _she_ did instead of the way everyone else did, but that was a change of thought that would come with some intensive struggle. Her pale blues turned glumly to the large red markings on the map and angry faces she had drawn illustrating where "The Grand King", a binge eating ghoul, had struck.

 _People like that don't make my goal any easier..._ Chiyo pinched the bridge of her nose, looking over the unfinished report before her and then glancing to the pictures of the crime scene earlier today.

 _The higher ups think cases thirty-four and twenty-two are related to the binge eater..._ Chiyo's brows furrowed and she glanced again to her map, studying the markings where she drew frowning faces to mark where the binge eater had struck. _There's no way he'd ever resort to eating fat old men though... That's not in his tastes..._

"If they attach anymore killings to his name then it'll be impossible to prove any of them of being innocent..." Chiyo furiously rubbed at her temples. "But there's no way he'd ever go for people like them..."

"Say, what does the Grand King look like anyway?" Hinata inquired, looking curious as he idly inched toward her files.

"You've never seen him?" Kageyama scoffed. "Figures."

"What's that supposed to mean, _huh_?" Hinata snapped.

"He wears a fox mask like most of Aoba Josai," Kageyama answered simply. "If you kept up with the wanted bulletin and the briefing files you would know that. Thin, agile, and extremely dangerous, he's often known to target young women and on occasion others."

"On occasion..." Chiyo frowned, looking troubled as she eyed her files. _Case thirty-four was an old man with hardly anything on him, not worth his time... And twenty-two was brutally slashed open and barely identifiable... he always makes it obvious it was him..._

 _Then there has to be a new ghoul mooching off of Aoba Josai's territory._ Chiyo realized, glancing to the clock and to the large clear windows that opened up to the sky from their headquarters, the city skyline gaze back at them as the sun began to set. _If I can prove it's not related to the binge eater's habits and submit the report before the meeting tomorrow..._

 _It'll help my goal!_

Chiyo quickly shot forward, scribbling down coordinates and street names on her hands before she hastily gathered her things, kicking Tanaka's trashcan for good measure so the stems of the flowers she'd been given snapped. "Bye guys, I'm pulling out for the night, get home safely!"

"A-Ah, Akisame-senpai, do you want me to escort you home?" Hinata inquired quickly, matching her hurried pace. "It's getting dark and—"

"No need, thanks Hinata," Chiyo ruffled the younger rookie's head and stepped into the elevator. "I'll grab a cab. Tell Tanaka I dumped two more reports on his desk."

"R-Right! Get home safely, Akisame-senpai!"

Chiyo flashed him a grin and he flushed while Tsukishima looked disapprovingly from down the hall, his head popping out from his cubicle. She threw the taller boy a smirk and stuck her tongue out, ignoring his look of disgust as she hit the button and glanced down to the street names on her hands.

 _If you want something done, you've got to do it yourself._

* * *

"Miss, would you happen to be all alone?"

 _Well..._ Chiyo grimaced, turning slightly to find a man facing her at the end of the alleyway, conveniently blocking her exit out. _That was terribly easy._

She'd been poking her nose around the outskirts of Aoba Josai territory, avoiding hot spots and aiming for areas any low ranking ghoul would loiter around in hopes of catching a meal without upsetting the rulers of this territory. She'd found herself headed down one particular alley way when the man before her had appeared, young, lanky, a crooked grin on his lips with greasy hair and a nasty stubble.

It didn't take too long for her to obviously figure out that this man was either a rapist, a crook, or a ghoul. Her eyes followed the line of drool beginning to leave the corner of his lips and she grimaced.

 _Ghoul._

 _Most likely the one I've been looking for._ Chiyo's eyes darted around her, realizing the only place the alley way went was further down, but she was certain that it would only lead to a dead end at some point.

Her guns were heavy in their holsters on either side of her hip, hidden by her thick hoodie. Chiyo slowly turned, meeting the man's hungry gaze as his eyes ran up and down her form over and over again, his gaze _literally_ hungry.

"No," Chiyo said slowly. "I'm meeting up with a friend."

"Really?" The man offered false concern, brows furrowing as his smile began to widen. _Bastard isn't even hiding it._ "I didn't see anyone coming in."

"Oh, uh, he'll be here in a second," Chiyo offered slowly. She took a deep breath, taking in the man's expression before she hardened her own. "Listen, sir, I, I know what you are."

The man arched a brow, looking amused as Chiyo took a step forward, spreading her hands out. "My name is Akisame. I work for the CCG, and I know that you're the ghoul responsible for the deaths of those two men."

The man before her allowed his eyes to turn, completely black with nothing but a bright red pupil.

"But I want to tell you that we can put that all aside," Chiyo began slowly. "I don't carry a quinque with me, I don't believe in using them. What I want, with your help, is to help create a world where people _and_ ghouls can live together peacefully."

She calmly offered him a hand. "Willing to give it a shot?"

There was a second, a brief, thoughtful second before Chiyo was scrambling to the side, lunging to the ground and slamming hard into the floor as a spiked kagune shot outwards, barely missing her head. Chiyo scrambled to her feet as a sick cackle filled the alleyway, the ghoul before her clutching his stomach as his kagune swung about wildly with the motion. "A world where ghouls and people can live together _peacefully_? Are you out of your _mind_? You must be the most foolish investigator in the _world_. Humans and ghouls can't live peacefully!"

"Why not?" Chiyo muttered bitterly, always annoyed to have someone talk down her ideals as she reached for her gun.

"Because..." the man's grin turned upwards, drool dripping from his jaws as his kagune rose above his head.

"Humans will always be nothing but _food_."

Chiyo ducked to the side as his kagune shot forward, impaling the ground before her. She took a knee and aimed, firing off her gun. The ghoul grinned, his tail swinging outwards and swiping the bullet out of the air. "Guns like that won't work on me, _sweetheart._ Didn't they teach you anything in that academy?"

His smile faltered when he noticed the deep cut the bullet had left on his kagune and Chiyo offered him a small smirk.

"They taught me plenty." She fired off another set of rounds and the man growled, lunging forward and shooting towards her rapidly. Chiyo's foot shot out and kicked a trashcan lid upwards as she ducked under, the spiked kagune impaling the lid where her head would have been as she flipped over and fired off several shots, nailing the ghoul in the leg as he let out a vicious growl.

"What, not used to your food fighting back?" Chiyo taunted, ducking another swing of the kagune as the man shot forward with a roar. She dived beneath him and shot upwards, a bullet slamming into his stomach as she rolled to the side just as his kagune came crashing down, barely slicing a line through her jacket and tearing the arm.

Her eyes went wide as he whirled around, clawed hands swiping outwards and she ducked once more, rolling along the ground and wincing at the impact against her shoulder. She scrambled to stand and clicked the trigger, grumbling beneath her breath when she realized she'd forgotten to restock the cartridge once again.

 _Sugawara is going to have my ass for this..._

Chiyo quickly grabbed the trashcans beside her and threw them to the ground, a useless blockade as she ran further down into the alleyway, wrestling to get her second gun from her holster as the man cackled behind her.

" _Now_ you're running away? What happened to all that talk?"

"I have a tendency to bite off more than I can chew," Chiyo called back, shooting down the alleyway and sliding a new cartridge in. "My friends rub off on me."

Air whistled past her ear and she jerked to the side as his kagune sliced a thin scratch along her cheek, retracting back to do more damage had she not thrown herself against the wall and shot off another round, impaling holes through the kagune as the man let out a howl of pain. Chiyo quickly rushed to reload when the kagune swung back out, catching her in the gut and throwing her to the side as the air rushed out of her lungs.

Chiyo winced at the harsh impact, quickly struggling to stand as she scrambled around madly for her gun as the ghoul before her chuckled darkly, saliva sliding from his lips as he panted eagerly. "For all the trouble you're worth, you sure smell... _delicious._ "

"I used to be a bit chubby when I was younger," Chiyo ground out, her hand closing around her gun as the man before her grinned, canines glistening. "I'd like to think I lost those few pounds though."

The kagune above her glistened in the moonlight, a deep, rusty red color— _blood?_ If she was lucky she'd be able to make her shot before it did any real damage, but she wasn't coming out of this looking too pretty.

 _My fault for getting into this mess._ Chiyo breathed slowly. _Too bad I didn't get to update my will in case anything happens._

"You're the first meal I ever had spout such strange nonsense," the man's teeth glimmered and Chiyo's eyes began to grow wide as the moonlight above them became blocked by another figure. "And now you'll be the last."

" _Shit_ ," Chiyo muttered.

"You should've realized that sooner—" the ghoul above her paused, blinking once in confusion as the quiet _drip drip_ of blood filled the air. "...eh?"

His snarling lips pulled back as his head slowly craned downwards, blood pooling from the now open would in his chest where a thick kagune rested, impaled straight through him and glistening with droplets of red against the vibrant aquamarine tones. Chiyo's eyes were wide, the first instinct to be relieved quickly washing away as realization dawned on her who she'd just ended up running in to. The ghoul before her coughed, blood spilling from his lips as he turned, rage and disbelief pooling across his face. "W-What..."

"I _thought_ I smelled something tasty," suave lips pulled upwards into a sly little grin, devilish as dark irises quickly turned red amidst a sea of black.

The ghoul's eyes widened, fear flickering across his face as the ghoul before him offered a frighteningly warm smile as his kagune surged forward, piercing him deeper and lifting him off his feet as he casually tossed him to the side, the force of the impact causing the wall to collapse.

" _And_ something rather rancid." A slender hand ran through dark, chocolate brown locks and the familiar ghoul before her let out a sigh. "Honestly, we go through all the effort to make our boundaries clear and stupid little shits like you never learn."

 _Oikawa Tooru._ Chiyo wondered how well her luck in life would hold up for one more night as the ghoul before her turned, eyes brightening considerably at the sight of her as his lips pulled upwards into a wide, almost hungry smile.

 _The Grand King._

"Chi-chan!"

The familiar sight of his fox-like kagune waved along behind him almost lazily, the beautiful shade of blue and aquamarine matching the uniform they used to wear together in high school. Blood dripped from one of the thick tails where it had struck the ghoul from before and Chiyo could only stare in disbelief as Oikawa's face contorted into one of obvious pleasure. "My, my, what a pleasant surprise to find you here so deep in _my_ territory."

Oikawa's eyes glimmered playfully as he stepped toward her. "You know the area so well you always avoid it—I've been rather lonely without you, y'know? Did you like the _gifts_ I sent you? I took extra time—"

Chiyo quickly raised her gun, firing off a volley of bullets that Oikawa easily deflected with a simple flick of one of his kagune tails. She quickly made a mad dash for the only opening she saw, sprinting forward as fast as her feet could carry her as Oikawa let out an audible sigh. Her eyes went wide and her face paled as she lurched, a tail swiping her legs out from under her and another quickly wrapping around her midsection, pinning her arms to her sides and squeezing tightly as she began to thrash about, struggling to get loose.

"That hurt, Chi-chan!" Oikawa pouted, bringing her closer as she continued to thrash about, struggling as hard as she could against the ghoul's grip. "Here I am trying to catch up and make small talk and you go and shoot at me! A little rude, don't you think?"

"Let me go, Trashy-kawa!" Chiyo spat. "And it's _Akisame_ to you!"

"Chi-chan, you've been around Iwa-chan lately, haven't you?" Oikawa frowned, looking clearly displeased with the news. "You spend so much time running from me and yet you actually _come_ looking for him—if he weren't such a good friend I might get a little jealous."

"Maiming and mutilating the men who come to my door isn't jealous enough?" Chiyo snapped. If she gave him an ounce of gentleness he'd pounce on it and shaking this particular fiend off would be near impossible.

"A ghoul's got to eat~"

"You don't even eat them!"

"I was full!"

Chiyo breathed heavily, glaring at the ghoul before her as Oikawa continued to smile charmingly, eyes taking in her form as hungrily as always. "Is that anyway to thank your savior?"

"Depends," Chiyo began dryly. "No use thanking you if I'm just going to get eaten again."

Oikawa's face flashed with a look of hurt. "I couldn't possibly eat _you_ , Chi-chan! Though _very_ tempting, you're much more fun...alive." Chiyo's eyes narrowed and Oikawa beamed, bringing her closer as she reeled her head back and he reached forward, fingers brushing along her cheek and gently brushing over the scratch the other ghoul had left.

He brought the bloodied finger to his lips and Chiyo paled, nearly gagging as he slid it into his mouth, pupils flashing red and eyes pooling with black as he let out a somewhat longing sigh. "Although, I'm sure you'd make a _wonderful_ meal..."

Oikawa's eyes narrowed and he swiftly jerked Chiyo to the side as she let out a rush of air, a rusty red, bristling kagune slicing downwards as one of Oikawa's tails flicked upwards to deflect the attack. "Eh? Maybe you're not as weak as I thought if that last one didn't send you running."

"T...The Grand King..." the ghoul before them breathed heavily, drool and blood pooling from his lips and Chiyo's eyes narrowed, mind racing as she tried to piece together why the obviously lower level ghoul hadn't split for it the moment Oikawa let him.

"Getting back up again basically means you'd like for me to kill you," Oikawa said cheerily, turning to him with a devilish smile. "You know that, right?"

"If I can take you down..." the ghoul grinned, his kagune bristling as he surged forward with an animalistic screech. "I'll become _invincible_!"

 _What?_

Oikawa let out a sigh, looking obviously bored as he took fine steps back as the ghoul before him made swipe after swipe, all the while continuing to handle Chiyo in the grip of one of his tails as she paled, jerking around from side to side. "You idiot! Just put me down—I'm only going to make it harder for you!"

"And give you the chance to scamper off?" Oikawa chuckled. "I don't think so."

The guilty and disappointed look that flickered across Chiyo's face said enough and Oikawa's brow twitched. "I'm not _that_ above eating you, y'know."

"Watch—"

Oikawa's eyes narrowed as the other ghoul's kagune barely nicked his cheek, the wound healing instantly as a trail of blood trickled downwards. His eyes flashed and two of his tails surged forward, impaling the ghoul before him. Blood trickled from his lips as he practically frothed at the mouth and Oikawa's eyes narrowed as his lips curled upwards.

"I was contemplating killing you nice and cleanly so my darling here wouldn't have to see such an awful thing but..." Oikawa's lips turned into a bright smile and his tails jerked sharply outwards, splitting the body before them in half and throwing them spitefully toward either side of the alley wall as Chiyo watched with morbid horror.

"You pissed me off."

The thick coppery scent of blood and rotting flesh filled the air and Chiyo grimaced, placing her head against the tail wrapped around her abdomen as she wrestled and arm free and placed it against her mouth.

"Now then!" Oikawa's eyes quickly turned cheerful once more as he whirled around, clapping his hands. "Where were we—"

"Let me down," Chiyo groaned.

"Now why would I—"

"I think I'm gonna hurl."

Oikawa wordlessly set her down beside one of the trashcans as Chiyo stumbled toward it, one hand clutched over her mouth. She bent over and gagged, her empty stomach only allowing her to dry heave as she coughed, spitting into the trashcan and grimacing as she shoved up fallen strands from her ponytail out of her face. Oikawa hummed, sauntering over and making cooing noises as he rubbed at her back.

"Ah~ I'm sorry, Chi-chan, you didn't need to see something so revolting." Oikawa pouted, looking truly apologetic. "Shall I make it better—"

 _Click._

Oikawa blinked slowly, eyes never leaving Chiyo's as she peered up at him beneath dark brown bangs. The cold touch of metal pressed against the bottom of his chin, threatening to blow his brains out should she pull the trigger. Oikawa slowly raised his hands and Chiyo slipped a stick of gum into her mouth with her free hand as she backed the ghoul before her up into a wall. Oikawa's lips turned upwards into a somewhat annoyed smirk as his eyes bore intently into hers and she kept her gaze even, not giving him an inch to work with.

"Eh~ How rude." Oikawa pouted, tipping his head slightly despite the gun pressed to the bottom of his chin. "This is how you treat your knight in shining armor?"

"Thank you," Chiyo said simply.

Oikawa gave her a look of obvious displeasure and Chiyo pressed the gun a little further into his chin as Oikawa clicked his tongue, looking hurt. "No need to be so rough, Chi-chan, I don't mind you taking the lead every now and then but I like you a little more submissive—"

"Did you kill the old man last month?" Chiyo said curtly. "And the homeless man three weeks ago? Were those you?"

Oikawa blinked slowly, a smirk touching his lips. "What if they were?"

Chiyo pulled the safety off with a dull _click_.

Oikawa chuckled, the force of his laughter resounding through his chest. "Please, Chi-chan, you know my tastes. Old men are so... _dry._ " Oikawa made a look of disgust, as if someone had just fed him something he didn't like. "Not to mention you never know where homeless people have been—I can't afford an upset stomach now!"

 _I knew it. With the rise of the recent generation of ghoul gangs running certain cities, they're capping the way they eat and keeping to their habits._ Chiyo almost wanted to release a sigh of relief. _Not all of them are mindlessly killing._

 _I'd have to send word to come check out this ghoul and then submit a formal report to present my findings._ Chiyo quickly began to formulate a plan within her head as to how to present these new findings and convince the rest of the board, oblivious to the look of annoyance that was flickering across Oikawa's face.

"Chi-chan."

 _If I can just convince them of these findings then maybe..._

"Chi-chan."

 _I'm sure Sugawara would help me with the presentation and maybe even Nishinoya if I play my cards right._

Chiyo felt a chill run up her spine and she nearly let out a screech of surprise when cold hands barely ghosted up the bottom of her shirt, fingers brushing against her stomach as she quickly shoved her gun up further and Oikawa let out a whine. "That hurt, Chi-chan!"

"Hands off or you lose your head."

"But you were ignoring me," Oikawa pouted, grudgingly removing his hands with a grumble. "I hate being ignored."

"Well, thanks for the information." Chiyo deftly stepped back and Oikawa looked up in surprise and slight disappointment to no longer have her body so close to his.

"Wait, that's it? No interrogation? No getting all up in my face and giving me the chance to kis—"

"I just needed to know if you killed those people or not and confirm if there was a ghoul on the lose not apart of one of the bigger gangs hanging around," Chiyo shrugged, clicking her gun and adding. "Besides, I was out of bullets anyway, it was an empty threat."

It only took seconds for Chiyo to suddenly find her back pressed firmly against the brick wall before her, hands pinned above her head and a knee between her legs as Oikawa leaned forward, eyes sparkling dangerously and mischievously as a wide smirk began to touch his lips. "A tip for you, Chi-chan."

He leaned forward, the thick scent of cologne and copper assaulting her senses as Chiyo paled and Oikawa's lips brushed the side of her cheek, breath ghosting over her ear.

"You shouldn't reveal your bluff so early into the game," lips barely grazed her ear and Chiyo froze. "Especially not to someone like _me_."

 _Well, shit._

"I don't mind," Chiyo said calmly, swallowing once as Oikawa paused, pulling back to meet her gaze curiously.

"I trust you."

 _That's a lie but he doesn't need to know that._

A slow blush crawled across Oikawa's cheeks, a rare look of surprise and obvious delight at her words flickering across his face as his eyes brightened and he grinned, leaning forward as if to kiss her when Chiyo quickly slipped a hand from his grip and pressed it to his lips. "If I'm not back to headquarters in fifteen minutes there's going to be hell to pay."

"Fine with me," Oikawa purred, and Chiyo quickly withdrew her hand when she felt his teeth scrape against her palm. "You should just quit that nasty job and let me take care of you."

"Move in with a ghoul? Tempting." Chiyo met his gaze dully. "How do I pay my rent, a body part a month?"

"There are different ways you can pay with your body, you know."

"I need to go."

"No."

"I need to go, _please_."

"Hmm, nope!"

"I need to go, please," Chiyo grimaced. " _Tooru_."

Oikawa's eyes brightened and Chiyo broke free when his grip on her hands loosened, quickly making her way down the alley way with the relief of knowing he wasn't going to hunt her down tonight. "Thanks for the info, you piece of shit!"

Oikawa simply smirked, sliding a hand into his pocket as he placed a fox shaped mask atop his face.

"Better be careful, Chi-chan."

She risked a glance back and felt a shiver up her spine as the moonlight illuminated the swirling mass of beautiful aquamarine tails curling around him, his kagune glistening beneath the moonlight and the glow of red irises as he slipped his mask over his face.

"You might not get so lucky next time."

Chiyo scoffed, making her way out of the alley way and quickly dialing for a cab as she blended in with a thick crowd of people.

 _If I'm lucky there won't be a next time._

* * *

 **I really wanted to try my hand at a sort of AU timeline, and I've come across mixes between Tokyo Ghoul and Haikyuu before, so I really couldn't resist. Most of the chapters will go along on its own before a real plot starts to set in. Currently no pairings are set, but romance is definitely going to be coming around ;)**

 **I hope you all enjoyed it so far!**

 **Thanks for reading :)**

 **Marshmellow-**

 **-OUT!**


	2. First Bite

**I can't even begin to express how much I love you guys (hearts x 1000) So glad you guys are finding the story interesting so far :)**

 **I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Haikyuu. :)**

* * *

 **Acquired Taste**

Chapter Two:

First Bite

" _Phrase; the first bite taken, usually into a meal."_

* * *

Chiyo Akisame was seven years old when she first encountered a ghoul.

Every child grew up with the same precautions, the same warnings. Don't stay out to late. Make sure you travel with a buddy. Don't make any detours. Don't make yourself too noticeable. They lived in the sort of world where ghoul attacks were far too common and as the world continued to fail to find a way to cope, all they could do was continue to rely on the CCG to keep the ghouls at bay, but the attacks would never stop.

She'd been on her way home from the library, her bag stuffed full with as many books as she could carry. A bright red sweater adorned her figure with a white pom pom beanie sitting at the top of her head, the small cotton ball swishing back and forth. Her small footsteps treaded across the ground, the early signs of frost and snow falling onto the ground as she turned a corner.

The way home was familiar. She'd done it time after time, over and over again. They'd always heard things on the news, warnings in the papers and broadcasts over the radios—but just like any series of everyday crime attacks, no one ever _really_ imagined that such a thing would ever occur to them as well.

There was no way that at the small age of seven, where her world consisted of soda pop flavored ice cream bars, books, and wondering what it was she would like to be when she got older, that she would ever consider dying that night.

But there is a part of us that knows before we truly know, and Chiyo had felt a chill run up her spine the moment she passed a particular alleyway, glancing about and realizing strangely that there wasn't a soul in sight as a dark, flickering gray kagune slipped from the shadows and wrapped itself around her leg. Her eyes went wide and her face grew pale as a scream tore from her lips and she was jerked forward, head hitting the concrete as she scrambled for a hold against the slick, frosted concrete. Her backpack tumbled to the side, books spilling out of their clasp as tears sprung in her eyes and she screamed for help.

The tentacle like kagune was gripping her ankle painfully tight, to a point she was sure was near breaking as she scrabbled along the floor, fingernails clawing at frozen concrete when the pulling ceased and she craned her head of her shoulder fearfully, entire body trembling as the grinning ghoul stood tall above her.

" _What are you doing out so late, little girl?_ "

"P-Please..." Chiyo could only babble on senselessly, tears springing in her eyes as fear gripped every fiber of her being, her hands tugging desperately at the tentacle gripping her ankle painfully tight. "I just—you don't have to do this—"

"We've got to eat, don't we?" The ghoul stepped forward, dilated pupils glistening in the flickering lamp light above them as drool dripped from the corners of his lips and he grinned, greasy hair clinging to the edges of his face. "It's nothing personal, kid. It's just the cycle of life..."

Chiyo's entire body trembled as she struggled in vain to scoot further away, but the single kagune tentacle suddenly jerked her upwards, hanging her limply upside down as she swung back and forth, the blood rushing to her head as the ghoul raised her to meet his eye level, deep red amidst pools of black.

"You don't feel bad when you go on eating pigs or cows or chickens, don't you? You don't even give it a second thought because that's just the way it is," the man licked his lips and Chiyo suddenly realized in this very moment she was truly, honestly, about to die. "Just think of it the same for us."

It was strange. Her tiny mind was racing to process everything that was happening around her, unable to believe that her life, young as it was, was about to be ripped away so that a single ghoul could go another night with a full stomach.

 _Is this really it?_

 _Mommy I'm sorry I didn't take out the trash this morning._ Tears fell from Chiyo's eyes, hitting the frozen ground in droplets as the ghoul drew his hand back. _I'm sorry I didn't get to return the book to the library. I'm sorry I didn't get to finish watering that sunflower._

"I don't want to die yet," Chiyo sobbed.

The entire world could call her insane, but Chiyo truly believed it was fate that night.

The ghoul before her choked once before he let out a screech of unbearable pain. Chiyo's head hit the floor and she gazed upwards dazedly for a moment, head throbbing uncontrollably as she realized her ankle was most likely sprained if not broken. Tears sprung forth anew in her eyes as she struggled to pull herself upwards, propping herself up on small hands as she glanced upwards to try and figure out why she was not dead in this very moment.

 _I may have spoken too soon._

Hot liquid splattered across her cheek. Chiyo could only stare with painfully wide eyes as the ghoul that had been about to eat her whole was thoroughly impaled, tossed to the side as nothing more than a limp carcass. Amidst the darkened shadows of the alleyway, a single pulsating light shone before her, deep, deep violent with undertones of a metallic gold.

The kagune swayed once, jerking to the side as if to flick off the blood that had coated its sleek features. She followed the length of the weapon as it curled around a small arm, arching over a neck and connecting to the other arm as well.

Her eyes met the calm gaze of a boy no older than her. His darkened irises meeting hers quietly, blood splattered across his cheek and trailing down the side of his face. His form was probably twice her size, with considerable height despite his babyish face.

 _A child ghoul._

Chiyo's heart dropped.

"I'm not going to eat you."

His quiet, calm voice echoed throughout the alleyway for a moment, silence following his phrase as Chiyo could only stare, disbelief slowing coloring her tearstained features.

"...eh?"

He turned to face her fully, the kagune curled around his arms retreating back into his body until she was left staring at the form of a young boy simply gazing calmly back at her.

"I'm not going to eat you."

Chiyo felt her heart stop.

"...why?"

There was the dullest flicker across his face, as if he were pondering how anyone would be so dumb in this single moment as to question such an act. Chiyo's eyes widened when she finally realized what she'd just asked and her face paled as she scrambled backwards a bit, waving her hands. "I-I mean, it's not that I'm not _thankful,_ or um, that I'm asking you to eat me—uh, I...um..."

The young boy with darkened locks and glistening eyes continued to gaze at her quietly as she struggled to find the right words, her knees knocking together and fingers trembling. Had it not been for the blood splattered across their cheeks and dripping from his fingertips, it would have seemed to be a normal conversation between two young children.

"I'm not hungry," the boy said finally, and Chiyo looked up in surprise, falling silent.

The young ghoul continued to gaze at her for a moment longer before he calmly turned, beginning to make his way out of the alleyway when Chiyo's eyes shone, something new amidst the fear as she scrambled to stand on her wobbly legs, ankle throbbing painfully.

"T-Thank you!"

The boy paused, turning to look at her with something akin to surprise as she allowed the widest, brightest smile to touch her lips amidst the blood and grime and tears and pain. "Thank you!"

He'd never thought he'd ever be thanked by the things he was supposed to eat.

Chiyo suddenly slumped forward, the events finally taking a toll on her as she nearly hit the ground, had it not been for the swift kagune that had shot outwards and cushioned her fall. The boy continued to stare for a moment longer before he stepped forward.

* * *

When Chiyo woke up in the soft confines of her bed, showered and changed and bandaged up, her mother had told her some nice young boy had brought her home saying she'd tripped and fallen, but before her mother could thank him he'd taken off.

Chiyo had laid there in her bed for several minutes, thinking and contemplating her near death experience as her parents went on and on about how glad they were that she was safe and wishing they could thank the young boy as well. Chiyo suddenly wondered if they'd still feel the same had they known of the boy's true self. _Not all ghouls are bad._

Chiyo sat up, eyes growing wide.

Not all ghouls were bad.

 _Not all ghouls are bad!_

Chiyo had scrambled to make her way down the stairs to announce this newfound discovery, just as any young child would to her parents. Her mother had thrown her a look of concern for putting weight on her twisted ankle already, but Chiyo had come bouncing up to them, eyes shining as she slammed her palms on the table.

"I'm going to become a ghoul investigator!"

Her mother choked on her tea and her father looked at her with wide eyes, mildly surprised and slightly fearful. "What on earth brought that on?"

"I'm going to show people that there are good ghouls too!" Chiyo exclaimed proudly, and her mother spluttered, dropping her cup and hacking up her tea as her father simply gazed at her in disbelief. "I'm going to be a symbol of justice for not only the people, but for ghouls too! I'm going to make a world where we can live together happily!"

Needless to say, very soon after, her mother and father had driven her to the hospital to make sure she hadn't hurt her head in her so-called 'fall'.

But from that day onward and for the rest of her life, Chiyo vowed to prove to the world that not all ghouls were bad, and she'd dedicate her life to making this world one where they could both live together peacefully.

* * *

"I heard Oikawa finally broke up with his girlfriend!"

"Eh~ No way! Does that mean he's finally available again? What happened to Hina?"

"I heard she transferred schools so they didn't want to deal with the long distance relationship."

"Poor Oikawa must be heartbroken!"

"Aki-chan this is my chance!" Chiyo was jostled from her thoughts as her friend gripped her by the shoulders, jerking her back and forward as her eyes shone brightly and all the girls in the classroom of Aoba Josai High School watched the volleyball setter with hungry eyes as he laughed with his close friend, Iwaizumi. "I can finally have Oikawa to myself!"

"I thought you realized he was nothing but a player," Chiyo commented, sliding a piece of pocky between her lips and munching thoughtfully as she tapped her pencil against the desk.

"It doesn't matter anymore, he's different now," Miya, Chiyo's classmate and arguable friend, gushed on, hearts practically floating in her eyes. "Ah~ I've got to make my hair nice and I've got to start looking even better than before—"

"Shouldn't you be finishing this career assignment?" Chiyo mused with a laugh, munching thoughtfully on another stick of pocky as Miya rolled her eyes with a pout.

"You know, if you keep eating snacks like that you're only going to get fatter!"

"I'm not that fat!" Chiyo huffed, glancing to the side as she purposely bit into a new biscuit with more force than necessary. "I'm just...well fed."

Sure enough, she was aware that she was carrying a little more weight than other girls in her class, but she didn't really mind it too much. Her hand went down and fondly tapped the slight pudge to her stomach. She wasn't to the point of being unhealthy, and she was sure if she actually put her mind to it she could shave off a few pounds. _Once I start training at the academy I won't have the time to get this fat again._

 _Besides..._ Chiyo hummed idly to herself, quickly scribbling her answer on her paper and grinning. _I may be fat but that just means I have enough to eat~_

"How do they expect us to know what we want to do so early on, anyway?" Miya pouted.

She glanced over to Chiyo's paper and sighed, "It's easy for you because you've decided on this since grade school, but is that _really_ what you want to do?"

"Of course!" Chiyo said proudly, wiping off the crumbs that had fallen off her paper and gazing down at her work with a proud smile. "This is the only possible path for me."

Miya rolled her eyes but patted her friend's shoulder fondly. "I just want to get married to a rich husband and never work a day in my life."

Her eyes strayed over to where Oikawa was talking amiably with his friends, girls hovering about him as they all chattered eagerly about their futures. "With a little hard work, I'm sure I can make that happen though."

One of the boys from the desk over blinked, eyes growing wide with disbelief as he swiped Chiyo's paper from her desk, to which the slightly chubby girl made a small noise of protest. "You want to be a ghoul investigator?"

A few heads looked over in surprise, part of the room quieting slightly at the word _ghoul_ , but the rest of the class continued about their chatter, save for two pairs of ears that had quickly picked up on the phrase, heads turning ever so slightly as eyes watched intently. A few students around Chiyo laughed, shaking their heads at the silly notion while others shuddered at the idea of something so dangerous.

"Come on, Akisame-san, there's no way you can be a ghoul investigator unless you lose a few pounds."

"Yeah, you'll never be able to run away at this rate!"

"Hey, hey, I'm waiting till I get to the academy!" Chiyo protested, cheeks dusting a light red as she mindfully munched on another pocky stick. "Besides, becoming a ghoul investigator is much better than any typical office worker or doctor! I'd still be saving lives."

"At the cost of your own," the boy beside her laughed, handing her paper back and shaking his head. Some classmates fondly ruffled her hair as she grumbled to herself, Miya laughing cheerfully beside her.

"Why would you ever want to become something so dangerous though?" A classmate teased. "Looking for a little thrill?"

"Or maybe she's just suicidal."

"Actually," Chiyo began, a glint appearing in her eye as she prepared to deliver her ghoul-human-living-together-in-harmony speech, unaware of the footsteps that were suddenly growing nearer. Miya's eyes had strayed and hey eyes quickly grew round in admiration, a blush dusting her features while half the class shushed, girls looking on in envy and confusion.

"I want to become a ghoul investigator because—"

"You want to be a ghoul investigator?"

Voice rich like honey, low, almost dripping. Chiyo paused, looking up where other eyes were trained and found her pale blues meeting dark, rich hazelnut, like dark chocolate almost. She blinked once, realizing it was none other than Oikawa Tooru gazing back at her. There was a small smile turning upwards on his lips, charming. To anyone else it must've simply looked like he was about to tease her, an interested classmate wanting to know a little more about her strange choice—normal.

But Chiyo felt a small shiver run down her spine, her palms growing slightly sweaty as she swallowed. There was something sharp in his eyes, predatory. She couldn't help but feel like something was taking place before her, even though she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

 _Then again..._ Chiyo frowned inwardly, growing curious. _Am I just being paranoid?_

"I do," Chiyo replied simply. Her paper was there for all to see, she wasn't trying to hide anything.

Oikawa hummed, a low tone that bordered a purr of sorts. Beside her she could sense Miya dying on the inside as she tried to hide her blush and quietly comb through her hair, while the boys that had been teasing her had rolled their eyes and glanced aside at Oikawa's presence. Chiyo swallowed, meeting his eyes evenly, refusing to be pushed down when it came to a topic like this—it was important after all! Oikawa's gaze flickered, as if following her every movement.

"Such a dangerous job is no place for a pretty lady like you," Oikawa said warmly, a cheeky and boyish smile on his lips. "Who could ever send you off to go up against monsters like those? Ghouls are the real deal you know—if you decide to do something like that, you could wind up dead in minutes."

"But I won't," Chiyo said firmly, and she felt once more that something shifted in Oikawa's eyes, his aura, but she wasn't able to put her finger on it. "I'll train hard so that I won't be a burden to anyone and I can defend myself—"

"So much blood and violence... You'd be an easy target," Oikawa mused with a shake of his head, teasing but truthful. "You don't deserve to die so young—"

"I won't die," Chiyo said once more. "If I work hard enough then—"

"Especially," Oikawa began softly, and Chiyo paused, looking up to him in slight awe and confusion as once more his gaze flickered, something...dark? Passing over his eyes before he smiled, throwing her a wink. "Since you smell so _tasty_."

"Oikawa-san that's not fair!"

"Compliment me too!"

"If you were a ghoul you could eat me any day!"

"You should give up on something like that, Aki-chan—" She wasn't aware that he knew her name. "—I'd hate to see someone like you get hurt. It's such a boring job too, all blood and fighting and no fun."

His fingers danced along her paper, as if to convince her to wipe the very notion of this idea away so he could toss all remnants of it away for her. Miya quickly began her attempt at striking up conversation with the handsome brunette, and as Oikawa turned to return her conversation warmly, Chiyo abruptly stood. She swiped the paper from beneath Oikawa's fingers—to which some girls seemed to hiss at the action of something so rough toward their darling King—and brushed her way past Oikawa, unaware to the way he quickly stiffened at her contact, eyes snapping toward her figure as he inhaled sharply.

Chiyo made her way to the front of the classroom, setting her worksheet down on the teacher's desk where they were all supposed to turn it in after the weekend and she said proudly to no one in particular.

"I'm going to become a ghoul investigator!"

"Hahaha, come on Akisame-san no need to be so dramatic!"

"I like it, a little flair right?"

"It just felt right." Chiyo admitted sheepishly, a few classmates strolling over and chatting with her, light teasing and wishes for good luck in the future.

Toward the back of the classroom Miya continued to strike up conversation with Oikawa, not noticing the way his attention had strayed, eyes focused with almost deadly accuracy on the pudgy girl at the front of the class, a gaze so intent it could burn holes through the back of her head when—

"Trashy-kawa."

Oikawa's eyes very slowly tore themselves from the figure he'd been watching and back to Iwaizumi, who was giving him a mindful stare as a slow smile began to creep onto Oikawa's features. He shifted his focus back to the girl before him and offered his most charming smile, Miya's heart instantly falling for the charming boy.

"Say, Miya-chan, you're pretty close to Aki-chan aren't you?"

The hunt had begun.

* * *

"And the past few days he's been walking me home! Can you believe that? He lives on the other side of town but he's going out of the way to see me home, how romantic is that?" Miya gushed, cheeks warm and hearts practically in her eyes.

Chiyo hummed, fixed on the book she'd been reading for the past few days about ghouls and their habits, or at least what human society had concluded of them so far. From the fact that they couldn't consume normal human food to their strange ability to drink coffee despite all that. Miya continued to chatter amiably beside her, going on and on about the new café that there were supposed to try tomorrow after his volleyball practice.

"That's great," Chiyo said absently, not really caring much for Oikawa—he seemed like a fairly nice guy, but she hadn't been able to shake off the strange gut feeling she had whenever she saw him.

It didn't really help that every time they were together, she had the strangest feeling that he always seemed to be... _watching_ her.

 _But of course I'm just jumping to conclusions._ Chiyo smiled softly to herself. _What would someone like him find interesting about that chubby girl in his class? Guys like him don't waste time on girls that look like me._

"Oh, I almost forgot!" Chiyo turned her head at the rustle of bags and her eyes brightened, mouth watering as Miya set a bag stuffed with snacks onto her desk. "These are for you."

"For me?" Chiyo eagerly pawed through the bag, finding that most of them were her favorite snacks. A goofy smile touched her lips and she quickly reached for a melon pan, eyes shining at the golden crust as she tore the wrapping off and took a bite, moaning at the sweet and soft dough. "You shouldn't have."

"Don't talk with your mouth full," Miya laughed, eyes looking away dreamily once more. "Enjoy, they're all for you."

"You're not going to eat any?" Chiyo frowned, looking to her friend questioningly as she continued to chomp down on the melon pan. "There's plenty for us—"

"I already had lunch!" Miya said happily. "I made a bento for Oikawa and we had lunch together earlier during break because he had a meeting with his team during lunch."

"Oh," Chiyo felt touched, gazing at the large pile of snacks. "This is too kind, Miya."

"Tell me about it," Miya sighed dreamily, looking off into the distance with a silly smile on her lips. "I told him you didn't need to stuff your face any more than you already did but he insisted."

Chiyo blinked, melon pan halfway through her mouth as she froze, turning to Miya in confusion. "He?"

"Oikawa bought those all for you! Isn't that nice of him?"

Chiyo swallowed, her stomach twisting in slight discomfort with this new knowledge.

Suddenly she wasn't as hungry anymore.

* * *

 _Eat up, pig._

Chiyo remained silent, gazing at the moldy bread and rotten fruits that had been stuffed into her locker on top of her shoes. Perhaps in years before the sight would've had her running off and sniffling somewhere in a corner, but she knew better now.

The pale blue eyed girl grimaced. The stench was something all on its own, but the idea of reaching in and having to clean out all those rotten fruits, as well as wiping down her shoes for any other trash was daunting enough. A sigh left her lips and she rubbed her arm, resigning herself to what was bound to be a long afternoon of cleaning and scrubbing.

"What's all that?"

Chiyo nearly screamed, whirling around and flattening herself against the wall of lockers as she scrambled to stand, only to slip and fall back on her butt as she looked up quickly in surprise. Dark hazels met her gaze curiously, Oikawa towering over her as he stood above her, head bent down to meet her gaze. His shoes touched the tip of her own as she blinked once, twice, before realizing who was standing before her and she let out a shaky laugh. "O-Oikawa, you scared me."

"Did I?" There it was again, a voice almost like a soft purr, eyes locked intently into her own. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you so badly."

"No, no, you just..." Chiyo swallowed, glancing off to the side as she closed the door to her locker behind her. "Surprised me."

Oikawa followed each of her movements rather avidly. Chiyo suddenly realized how awkward this situation was growing to be with every minute of silence that began to pass. She realized her legs were on either side of his own, spread open rather hazardously with her shirt a disheveled mess and the pudge of her stomach jutting out over the waistband of her skirt. Carefully she maneuvered her leg around his, his eyes watching each movement and seeming to drink in the pale expanse of skin eagerly until she was on the other side of him.

Chiyo quickly stood, dusting herself off and clearing her throat, running one hand through her hair. "Um, sorry about that. Am I in your way?"

"You're not," Oikawa said cheerfully, a bright smile on his lips as he simply continued to gaze at her, unmoving.

There was a brief moment of silence once more until Chiyo's eyes strayed to where her locker was still open a tad bit, the stench of rotten fruit wafting up toward her. Oikawa's eyes grudgingly left her form and followed her line of vision when he blinked, casually reaching forward and pushing it open the rest of the way to get a better look.

"Aki-chan, it looks like you're being bullied."

Chiyo blinked, the situation suddenly dawning on her and she quickly lunged forward, brushing past him and turning her back to him as she hastily shut the locker. She missed the way his entire body grew rigid, the flicker of his pupils as his mouth parted ever so slightly, inhaling. "S-Sorry, you didn't need to see that. It was just a little prank, I'll clean it up and things will be fine—"

"Say, Aki-chan," Chiyo paused, her back growing rigid as she sensed Oikawa shift behind her. His chin came to rest just above her shoulder, breath by her ear, and while any girl at this school would die to be in her situation, alarm bells were ringing in her head, a chill running down her spine.

 _Dangerous._

"I could take care of this for you."

Chiyo jerked, skirting off to the side so that she was no longer cornered by his body. Oikawa's eyes merely followed her movement, intent, almost lazy in a way. She was strangely reminding of some kind of wild animal watching, taking its time. Chiyo rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably. "N-No, no, it's fine, thank you. I just, um... I can handle this myself, it's bound to happen every now and then."

Oikawa remained silent, watching her quietly and Chiyo found herself scrambling for more to say, strangely becoming aware of the fact that there was no one else around them. "You see, I'll just, um..." Oikawa's eyes followed as her fingers moved to pull at the collar of her uniform, watching a bead of sweat trail down and disappear. "I'll just..."

Oikawa straightened, turning to face her fully as Chiyo continued to stammer. _How do I explain this to him? Not to mention this is partially because some girls must have heard that he bought me all those snacks. If I say anything it sounds like I'm blaming him—_

 _DANGEROUS._

Chiyo stopped, her gaze which had been trained on the floor now seeing a pair of shoes in front of her own, meaning Oikawa was now in front of her. Slowly, her eyes strayed upwards, fear beginning to fill her very being as she swallowed shakily, not knowing what would be waiting her when her eyes finally did meet his own—

"Tooru-kun! Thanks for waiting!" Chiyo jumped, eyes quickly landing onto Miya's familiar form and a sigh of relief suddenly escaped her lips. Oikawa turned, smiling cheerfully at the other girl's appearance. "Sorry I took so long."

"It wasn't any problem, I was chatting with Aki-chan over here," Oikawa said warmly, throwing Chiyo a wink. "She's pretty fun to tease, I couldn't help myself."

"She's a very honest person," Miya said with a small laugh, waving to her friend before she quickly latched onto Oikawa's arm. "How about we try that new café? I heard the coffee there is fantastic!"

"Eh? I didn't know that. Let's go—"

Chiyo quickly grabbed her things, deciding she could deal with the rotten fruit tomorrow was she hurried off in her school slippers. She tossed a hasty good bye over her shoulder and let the doors swing shut behind her, walking as fast as she could until her years of lacking proper exercise finally caught up to her and she began to pant, sweat dribbling down her chin as she breathed heavily, hands on her knees.

 _For a moment it had almost felt like..._

Chiyo swallowed.

 _My life was in danger._

* * *

Oikawa chatted happily with Miya by his side, hands in his pockets with her arm slung through his. They were beginning to approach the café that she had wanted to take him to so badly, but despite his cheerful smiles and teasing comments, a single, resounding thought continued to flash through his mind.

 _Ah, I don't think I can wait any longer._

* * *

Miya hadn't come to school for the past week.

At first, Chiyo had dismissed it as her deciding to skip a day because she was lazy. When she was gone the second she figured Miya must've caught the flue. The third day when Chiyo came to find the desk empty, she realized it must've been worse than she thought and she should call her to see how she was doing. The fourth day Miya failed to arrive to school, Chiyo sat at her desk quietly as Miya's phone continued to ring, the familiar voice coming through her voicemail as once more she failed to pick up.

There could have been dozens of different reasons why all these things were happening. She didn't know where Miya lived but she was sure someone else did, and she could always go ahead and ask someone and pay a visit. Maybe her phone was broken. Maybe she wasn't feeling well. Maybe she was in the hospital. Maybe—

Maybe something bad had happened.

Chiyo swallowed, gazing at the empty desk beside her quietly as the teacher gave them all a little bit of advice about some recent ghoul activity in the area and cautioning them to never go anywhere alone or do anything too late at night. She and Miya weren't that close, but she was a good enough friend and she'd never really minded that Chiyo was a little overweight or anything of the sort. They talked, hung out, she liked Miya.

 _If something happened to her, I'd want to know._ Chiyo's eyes flashed in determination and she made a note to herself to ask some classmates if they knew Miya's address—Oikawa would probably know since the two of them had basically begun to date.

Unbeknownst to Chiyo, a slow, gentle smile began to curl over Oikawa's lips. He didn't need to look to know what was coming. Beside him Iwaizumi threw him a look of disapproval, a sigh leaving his lips and pity heading toward the pudgy girl in the back of the classroom.

Looks like they'd have to be moving again soon.

* * *

 **AHHHH THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR KIND AND SUPPORTIVE REVIEWS!**

 **Insanely glad and super happy that so many of you guys are interested in this story! I was a little worried about the reception since this was partially written to satisfy my craving of writing a Haikyuu fanfiction along with Ghoul themed characteristics. Also super glad that so many of you have taken a liking to Chiyo as well! I think she's one of my favorite OCs so far because it's rather fun to write from her perspective considering how normal it is compared to most.** **Once again, thank you all so much for the support -hearts- I promise Enigma is next to all of you loyal fans, so stay tuned!**

 **Marshmellow-**

 **-OUT!**


	3. Flavoring

**Last chapter to the mini background story and then we'll move on with the real plot!**

 **I do not own Haikyuu or Tokyo Ghoul :))**

* * *

 **Acquired Taste**

Chapter Three:

Flavoring

" _The beginning of adding new flavors into a dish."_

* * *

"Iwaizumi-san!"

Iwaizumi paused, blinking once before he caught a deep whiff of the scent before him and grimaced, turning around warily as he quickly scanned the premises. With no mop of wavy brown locks in sight he turned fully and faced the girl before him, Chiyo Akisame panting deeply as she set her hand on her legs, a dribble of sweat down the side of her brow. "Ha... Ha... Sorry, I'm a little out of shape."

"Didn't you want to be a ghoul investigator?" Iwaizumi inquired incredulously. _No wonder that idiot won't stop, her smell is too strong._ "I doubt you'll get far if it's this hard to run across campus."

Chiyo flushed, rubbing the back of her neck as she self consciously tugged her baggy sweater down a little further. Iwaizumi felt a momentary stab of guilt, glancing to the side as he opened his mouth to apologize and paused briefly, conflicted for a moment. _Was it worth spending any time if he's already set his sights on this one?_

"Sorry to bother you," Chiyo began, inhaling deeply before she turned to Iwaizumi with a small smile, brows furrowed. "I know that you're pretty close to Oikawa-san and I was wondering if maybe..."

"Sorry," Iwaizumi threw his bag over his shoulder, turning around and sighing. _Of course, she's already fallen for him so she's a goner anyway._ "I don't know where he is right now."

"That's not what I meant!" Chiyo began quickly and Iwaizumi paused, looking back at her in faint surprise when she swallowed. "I mean, not that I don't care about Oikwa, he's a decent enough guy I guess... I was hoping that maybe you might know where Miya is? She's the girl that's been hanging out with him lately." Iwaizumi's eyes flickered and he turned to face her fully, eyes growing wide. "Lately I figured they were dating or something but she hasn't been to school and I've just been worried..."

 _He's going through so much trouble just for her?_ Iwaizumi gazed down at the girl before him, sure, she was definitely on the meatier side, but the only thing that made her worthwhile was how strangely well... _delicious_ she seemed to smell. Iwaizumi's eyes flickered to the side and he felt his brows furrow. _Why go through such an elaborate plan for one meal..._

"I understand if you don't know much," Chiyo said earnestly and Iwaizumi's attention turned quickly back to her. "I know you probably don't really know me anyway either," she laughed sheepishly and let her eyes flicker to the ground. "I'm just... a little worried about her, you know?"

"Why don't you just ask Oikawa?" Iwaizumi inquired finally. "He would probably know since they've been hanging out, right?"

Chiyo faltered and Iwaizumi paused, catching the sudden shift in mood as Chiyo rubbed her arm, glancing to the side. "I don't mean to come off rude or anything because I know you two are close, but I guess it's just that..."

Iwaizumi's nose twitched, recognizing the familiar scent.

"I'm not very comfortable around Oikawa-san."

 _Fear._

 _"Don't feel guilty."_

Iwaizumi paused, voice catching in his throat.

 _"They don't feel guilt when they watch us die, you know."_

He gazed down at the girl before him, eyes wide and earnest and hoping despite everything that he knew was about to happen to her.

 _"To them, we're just monsters."_

"Why do you want to be a ghoul investigator?" Iwaizumi asked finally and Chiyo blinked, looking surprised as she turned her head upwards to meet his gaze.

"Well, I know it sounds silly," Chiyo awkwardly tugged at her sweater and Iwaizumi waited. "A lot of people think it's dumb and impossible but I can't help but want to strive for it anyway... But I want..."

Chiyo's expression hardened and she squared her shoulders, meeting his gaze evenly and Iwaizumi felt something stir in his chest as she grinned, eyes shining.

"I want to make a world where ghouls and humans can live together peacefully!"

 _"They hate us."_

"You're an idiot."

"See?" Chiyo sighed, raising her hands upwards helplessly. "No one takes it seriously, but that's fine! I'm going to show everyone!"

He didn't even realize his lips had turned upwards into a bit of a crooked grin until he realized Chiyo was returning it. He blinked once, opening his mouth to respond with another sharp quip about what an idiot she must be, which she really _must_ honestly be to want to try and make something like that come true but he couldn't help that he felt she was a good person, when there was a sharp shift in the air. Iwaizumi paused, the presence growing stronger, powerful, scent filling the air almost intoxicatingly and he scowled, eyes snapping to the left where a mop of familiar brown hair and sharpened eyes met his own gaze. A slow smile crawled over Oikawa's face, seemingly good natured save for the tension that was growing thick in the air.

 _"Mine."_

 _You should know better._ Iwaizumi thought as he met Oikawa's gaze evenly, not backing down while the other teen smirked. _I don't want her._

There was a shuffle of feet and Iwaizumi paused, turning his gaze downwards to Chiyo when he stopped. He hadn't even realized that her eyes had followed his gaze and when Oikawa caught sight of the fact that Chiyo had realized he was there as well he quickly smiled brightly, waving a hand as he began to approach.

"T-Thank you again, Iwaizumi-san!" Chiyo bowed her head quickly and took a few stumbling steps back. Iwaizumi watched her in silence as her gaze darted to Oikawa once and then she was turning tail, meeting his own gaze and offering him a sheepish smile before she was running off with her tail between her legs.

 _Smart._ Iwaizumi felt something bubble in the back of his throat and he couldn't help but call out, "You should try changing your perfume! It doesn't suit you!"

Chiyo turned back, looking hopelessly confused before she shrugged, turning around fully and making her way across the campus. Iwaizumi watched, waiting till she was completely out of sight to face the menace that had made its way to him, grinning like a fox. "Now, now, Iwa-chan, you should know better than that! It's not her perfume that makes her smell so...appetizing."

"Doesn't hurt to try," Iwaizumi sighed, eyes narrowing as he met Oikawa's bemused gaze. "You had to pick someone like her?"

"I only have the best tastes after all!" Oikawa clapped his hands together, smiling from ear to ear as he grinned. "Why? Are you jealous that I'm putting dibs on her first?"

"She isn't worth it."

Oikawa hummed, tapping his chin as if in thought and Iwaizumi scowled in annoyance. Oikawa's eyes glittered darkly and a smirk tugged at his lips, tipping his head to the side as his tongue swept over his lips. "I think she's _very_ worth it."

There was a shift in the air and Oikawa paused, tipping his head back slightly as he regarded his friend, perhaps one of his only in a world as hateful as theirs.

"Are you going to stop me, Iwa-chan?"

Iwaizumi simply snorted, kicking Oikawa in the back of the knees as the other ghoul let out a cry of pain, looking at him in shock while Iwaizumi scowled and turned around, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "You've got a rotten personality, you know that?"

"Come on, Iwa-chan! I know you love me~"

 _Sorry._ Iwaizumi turned his gaze downwards, recalling the earnest eyes flashing through his head with a sigh. _Maybe she'll get lucky._

But he wasn't naïve enough to not know that lucky for her meant death for them.

* * *

" _I'm alright but I need your help. Come to school tonight but come alone, I'll meet you in the classroom."_

 _Miya_

* * *

It was a full moon tonight.

Chiyo had waited until her parents were fast asleep before making her way out of the house, sneaking through the side gate before she grabbed her bike and made her way to school as fast as she could, a bag filled with medical supplies and snacks, as well as a flashlight and should things really be bad, a pocket knife she'd swiped from her dad's drawer earlier that day.

Stowing her bike away in one of the nearby bushes, Chiyo read through the instructions that Miya had left her as she approached a side door on the other side of the building. The door was unlocked and she swallowed, carefully pushing it open as she made her way inside, remembering to shut it behind her.

Silence.

The school was a spooky as she thought it would be at night. Chiyo shuddered once, clicking on her flashlight as she made her way past the rows of shoe lockers to one of the other hallways.

All of her better senses had warned her off from coming tonight, but if Miya needed help, how could she say no? The girl had been absent for the past few weeks now and it could only mean trouble. There was the possibility that she might have run away from home due to some unknown reason, and Chiyo had to do what she could to help—Miya would do the same.

 _Most likely_. The pale eyed girl swallowed, quietly making her way up the stairs to the second story of the building where their classroom would be. The only sound to reach her ears was her heavy breathing and the quiet sound of her footsteps along the sleek floors. Her breath came to a slow halt when she finally stopped before the doors to their classroom, knowing that Miya would be on the other side, and whatever she needed her help for, she had to be ready.

Sweaty and slightly pudgy fingers gripped the edge of the door and slid it open, eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room save for the brilliant ray of silver light shining through the windows. No sound escaped her lips.

"Good evening, Chi-chan."

 _Oikawa?_ Chiyo blinked, confusion decorating her features as she hesitantly stepped into the room, eyes searching for any sign of the familiar shape of her friend. Oikawa stood to the center of the room amidst the many desks, chairs propped up on top of the desk from the janitor who had most likely been there hours before them. The moonlight streaming through the window shifted, outlining the edges of his hair and framing the curves of his face. Dark hazel eyes regarded her warmly, a small and charming smile on his lips.

 _Caught you._

"What are you doing here?" Chiyo questioned, brows furrowing in confusion before realization dawned on her. "Is it Miya? Did she send you? Where is she?"

Chiyo quickly shuffled forward, moving so she was only several feet away from him, worry in her gaze. "I got the note that she sent me. I figured that you might know something—did she send you so you could—"

"You're making me feel guilty now, Chi-chan," Oikawa teased, small smile on his lips as he offered her a look of endearment, the kind a parent would give to a child who didn't understand the gravity of the situation around her. "Miya-chan is fine, she got sick for a while and she accidentally broke her phone so she hasn't been able to contact anyone."

 _Miya was..._

 _Fine?_

"She's...fine?" Disbelief colored Chiyo's features, confusion filling her to the brim as she blinked once. "Then who sent the note?"

"I did." Oikawa replied simply.

Something finally clicked in Chiyo's head. Realization struck her and she paused, understanding settling over her as she sighed, suddenly feeling tired and worn out from all the exercise she had done—maybe she should start getting back into shape sooner than she thought. "I see."

 _It was a little joke._ Chiyo realized. _He didn't need to go this far just to tell me she was sick, he just wanted to have a little fun. It would make a great story to tell those other girls anyway._

"Sorry to have bothered you," Chiyo said sheepishly, heart a little heavier. Oikawa's face morphed into one of confusion as she turned, beginning to make her way to the door of the classroom. "I'm going to head home now, Oikawa, please get home safely."

"Chi-chan."

Fingers larger than her own clasped over her wrist. Chiyo halted, blinking in confusion as she turned when firm arms suddenly wound themselves around her chest, Oikawa pulling her back a few steps so that her back made contact with his chest.

"Don't go."

 _Is this part of the joke?_ "Oikawa—"

"It's not Miya-chan I like," Oikawa said softly. "It's you."

...

...

...

"Oikawa- _san_ ," Chiyo began quietly, adding the honorific to show just how done she was with this whole game. "I think I'll be going home now."

Oikawa blinked, disbelief coloring his features as Chiyo shouldered his arms off of her, continuing her way toward the door. "You don't believe me?"

"I don't." Chiyo said simply. "Why would someone like you have interest in someone like me? I mean, look at me."

Chiyo gave him a bitter smile, gesturing to her figure. "I'm not exactly like all the other girls you've dated before. I wouldn't fit your criteria."

"Criteria?" Oikawa mused.

"So if you don't mind, I'm sure this has been entertaining for you and all but," Chiyo patted her stomach with a sigh. "I'm tired and hungry and I think I'll head home."

"Neh, Chi-chan."

 _When did he change from Aki-chan to Chi-chan?_ A chill ran down her spine, blood running cold. Chiyo found herself rooted to her spot, the hairs beginning to rise on the back of her neck.

"I'm _starving._ "

Slowly, despite every part of her screaming, pleading for her to turn tail and run in that very moment, Chiyo began to turn.

Pale blue met with deep, dark hazelnut, Oikawa's eyes half lidded as a low smirk began to crawl onto his lips. Slowly, almost lazily, beautiful and shimmering aquamarine tails began to emerge from behind him, unfurling themselves and swaying gently, mesmerizing. The thick kagune resembled that of a fox's tail, several curling over themselves while a few curled around Oikawa, his head tipping slightly to the side as he licked his lips.

The final addition to the transformation was complete as dark hazel shifted, black seeping into a once white canvas as pupils became a dark, rich crimson color.

Chiyo's breath caught in her throat, moonlight streaming through the windows and making Oikawa's kagune look almost stunning.

Oikawa Tooru was a ghoul.

 _RUN._

Her eyes grew wide like saucers and Chiyo paled, whirling around on her foot as she sprinted out the door, pumping her legs as fast as they would carry her while Oikawa's chuckle echoed down the hallway.

"That's rude, Chi-chan!" Oikawa sang, and Chiyo nearly screamed as a teal tail slammed into the wall beside her, at the end of the hall, Oikawa's eyes glittering in the dark as he grinned. "I confess to you and you run off?"

 _This can't be happening._ Chiyo scrambled down the stairs, panting hard as sweat dripped down her brow and she took the steps three at a time, leaping downwards as she ran. _This can't be happening. This can't be happening._

She cried out as her foot caught on one of the steps, tumbling roughly down the rest of the way as she coughed, winded for a moment as she tried to catch her breath. Chiyo hacked, shakily propping herself up as she winced, realizing she'd bruised her arm in the fall and sported a fresh cut on her leg. Footsteps echoed above her and she paled, scrambling to stand as she hobbled down the rest of the stairs, limping down the hall as fast as she could.

"Chi-chan, have I ever told you how _delicious_ you smell?" His voice echoed down the hallways like a purr. "Earlier you were talking about how you weren't my type, but you're _exactly_ my type. All the other girls are so soft, but too skinny."

 _All the other girls._ Chiyo swallowed, tears pricking in her eyes as fear gripped her heart. All those girls that had transferred schools or left. Victims of unknown ghoul attacks, they were all _him_.

" _I want to make a world where ghouls and humans can coexist!"_

Isn't that just natural then?

"Chi-chan~"

Chiyo tested the doors to the outside of the school, groaning when the locks wouldn't budge and she quickly limped down the other hallway, slamming the doors to the gymnasium open. Her eyes darted around wildly, looking for some way to escape—an exit, a hiding place, _anything._

"Ah, Chi-chan..." Oikawa's purr rang down the hallway and Chiyo limped as fast as she could to the other side of the gym, blood dripping from the cut on her leg as she hurried to the outer door. "You don't even realize how much of a tease you are, do you?"

Chiyo furiously rattled the doors, tears pooling in her eyes when she realized the lock from the outside wasn't about to budge. She hurriedly scanned the side, Oikawa's shadow growing close from the hallway as she hurried to the other side of the gym, tossing the doors open.

"Brushing against me like that, not even knowing how good you smell... It's intoxicating really, I've never met anyone who smelled this... _good_. You've got just the right amount of weight on you too~"

Chiyo felt sick, glancing back and realizing hopelessly that she'd left trails of blood all over the gym, leading to this very spot. _This can't be happening._ She shut the doors behind her, reaching for the net used to scoop trash out of the pool and using it to bar the doorway as she quickly looked for an exit.

Her eyes landed on the pool before her, water still and shimmering in the moonlight streaming through the windows. Realization slapped her across the face and she hurriedly shed off her hoodie, tossing it to the side as she shuffled to slip off her shoes as well.

There was a fierce rattling against the doors behind her and Chiyo dove forward, cold water embracing her. She quickly gasped for air, making her way to the other side of the pool as she pulled herself over, her shirt and panties dripping wet as she coughed, making her way to the discarded clothes.

"Chi-chan!" Oikawa exclaimed cheerfully, the doors to pool thrown open carelessly as his tails swayed behind him, flashing in the light. "Going for a midnight swim without me?"

Oikawa paused, blinking at the now empty room before him as he hummed, casually strolling to the side of the pool as he followed the trail of wet footprints, the delicious tang of blood no longer guiding his senses as the scent had disappeared— _clever girl_. Oikawa smiled, lips curling upwards as a pool of water stopped before one of the supply closets off to the side.

With a small hum, Oikawa pulled the door open, nearly yanking it off the hinges when he paused, blinking once.

A wet shirt and bra greeted him, tossed carelessly onto the floor with their owner nowhere in sight. Oikawa peeked outside the supply closet, realizing the path of water ended here, meaning Chiyo must've found some way to dry herself off and lead him astray.

A smirk began to play on his lips, eyes flashing brightly as a chill ran down his spine. He quickly sniffed the air, listening intently before he hurried down one corridor, making his way to a flight of stairs.

 _You can't hide from me, Chi-chan._

* * *

 _Why me?_ Chiyo felt the wind whip violently past her, shuddering at the cold air, her damp hair clinging to the sides of her face as she clutched the fencing behind her. _What did I do to deserve this? Is it because I want to be a ghoul investigator? Is that really so wrong? Can't they see I'm trying to help them?_

Chiyo sniffled, tears pricking the edges of her eyes as she held back a choked sob. She didn't want to die like this, being eaten at her age before she even had a chance to make it into the academy. There was so much she still wanted to do—to accomplish! Was it really so impossible? For ghouls and humans to coexist together?

"I hate this!" Chiyo screamed into the night air, clutching the fence behind her for dear life.

 _I promise if by some miracle I get out of this alive I'll lose weight. I'll lose all my weight and start training for the academy. I won't take anything for granted._

She heard the rooftop door slamming open behind her and Chiyo swallowed, bracing herself for what she knew was about to come. Footsteps sounded behind her and she turned, meeting crimson pupils dead on.

"Found you, Chi—Chi-chan?" Oikawa's voice morphed into one of surprise, eyes widening as he suddenly processed the sight before him.

"Oikawa!" Chiyo shouted, eyes hardening as she gripped the chain link fence tightly between her fingers. "I don't understand you!"

"What are you doing?" Oikawa's eyes flashed, hazel for the briefest moments as he took a wary step forward.

Chiyo swallowed, not daring to glance back, she knew what was behind her. Chiyo stood precariously on the other side of the rooftop fence, her feet only inches away from the ledge which would send her plummeting straight down. "I'm going to jump!"

"Are you insane?" Oikawa exclaimed, looking honestly concerned for her state of mind. "You think I went through all this just for you to _jump_? What do you think you're doing?"

"I'm saving you!" Chiyo snapped angrily. "You just _had_ to go and try to eat me so now I'm going to save you even though you don't even deserve it you filthy asshole!"

"What are you _talking_ about?" Oikawa shouted back. "You're insane! Is being eaten by someone like me really that bad—"

"You don't get it!" Chiyo exclaimed. "If you—hey! If you take another step forward I'm jumping!"

"Don't you dare jump!" Oikawa growled. "I did not go through all this for you to jump—"

"If I let you eat me, you'll get caught." Chiyo said quietly. "They'll figure it out eventually, they'll track you down and you'll never be able to live a normal life again."

"You think I care about anything like that?" Oikawa began incredulously. The look of confusion on his face almost childish. "I'll just run off—"

"You do care!" Chiyo snapped furiously. "I know you care because why else would you go to school? To find good people to prey on? That's a lie! You like it here! You like playing volleyball, you like your teammates, you do homework, you complain and you laugh and you get mad—you're alive, just like me!"

She didn't know Oikawa Tooru the way other people might have. She'd never really thought much about him at all until recently. But she remembered that he was still a student here, just like her. She remembered hearing his voice as he whined about a test score, she remembered him laughing with their classmates over something silly, she remembered the tears streaking down his face when she happened to cross paths with him, just after he'd lost a volleyball game.

She remembered Oikawa Tooru still had a life he must want to live too.

Oikawa stared at Chiyo in wild disbelief, crimson eyes reverting to darkened hazel as his kagunes swayed anxiously behind him. "I get it. You need to eat. You have to eat to survive, just like anyone else." Chiyo swallowed. "A-And as much as I wouldn't want to be eaten, I understand. But if I let you eat me eventually they'll figure it out and it'll become too obvious and you won't be able to live this peaceful life anymore—"

"What part of this is peaceful?" Oikawa snapped. "I never expected any of this to ever be _peaceful—"_

"That's what I'm trying to change!" Chiyo exclaimed. "If I make it look like I committed suicide, no one will question anything. You'll be fine."

If she was going to die, she was going to make her life at least a little worth it. _If I can't live to be a ghoul investigator and make the world a better place for both ghouls and humans, then I can start and end with this._

"Why would you do something like that?" Oikawa began breathlessly, eyes wide with disbelief and confusion. _You're insane. You don't make sense. I don't understand. Why are you like this?_

"I-I wanted to be a ghoul investigator because I wanted to make a world where people and ghouls could live together peacefully," Chiyo sobbed, wiping a tear off on her shoulder as she swallowed. "But I guess I'll have to start and end here."

"That's insane," Oikawa stepped forward and Chiyo warningly took a step closer to the edge. "Something like that could never happen, it's impossible—"

"I'll make it happen." Chiyo said finally, and Oikawa paused, something strange coiling up in his chest, heart pounding in his ears. _This is..._

A small, shaky smile touched her lips and Chiyo swallowed. "T-Tell my parents I love them, okay?"

Oikawa's eyes went wide and he shot forward as Chiyo shut her eyes, letting go of the fence and falling backwards.

 _This isn't how I wanted to die. This isn't how I wanted to die._ Chiyo thought frantically, wind whipping wildly beneath her as she felt herself fall—fall, fall, _fall._ What was she even doing, giving up her life for some guy she didn't even know? He wanted to eat her for Christ's sake—she could've just found some way to escape and reported him to the CCG but—

 _Then this cycle would never end._

Chiyo shut her eyes, bracing for the impact.

 _Maybe like this... I can make a difference?_

"Idiot!"

Chiyo's eyes snapped open, a firm hand gripping her wrist hard enough to bruise, Oikawa's hazel eyes wide with disbelief and fury and slight fear as he gripped hard. Her eyes trailed to the beautiful kagune tails that had dug themselves firmly into the side of the building, concrete crumbling apart from where they'd broken through the plaster and through the building.

He'd saved her.

"Who do you think you are to go jumping off a rooftop like that—"

"Let me go!" Chiyo exclaimed wildly, eyes growing wide as she attempted to pry her wrist from his arm. "You're just going to eat me after you save me! Then this whole thing and my speech earlier would be completely pointless!"

"I'm not going to eat you! You think I would go through all this trouble to save you from dying if I was just going to kill you anyways?"

"No! You want to eat me because you've already invested this much time and it's annoying if I die now!" Chiyo snapped back furiously.

"Is there too much fat in your brain too? Idiot! I'm not going to eat—"

"How dare you! I'm chubby okay! I'm chubby and well fed—"

"Stop thrashing and let me just—"

"I'm trying to save—"

"Save you!" Oikawa exclaimed, lunging forward and wrapping tight arms around Chiyo as the wall where his tails had dug into gave way. Chiyo's eyes went wide as the smell of sweat and something musky washed over her, firm arms wrapping themselves tightly around her.

 _Falling._

Chiyo shut her eyes, wrapping her arms tightly around Oikawa as she prayed to whatever god was out there.

A crash, wind shattering her eardrums, and a voice, someone cursing before another voice broke through, soft and hurried.

"You're always so god damn impulsive—"

"Shouldn't you be praising me for making such a good decision?"

"Why couldn't you just eat her like you always do and just end it—"

"Because she wants—"

And everything went black.

* * *

"Eh? Oikawa-san still hasn't come back to school yet?"

"I hear he's been really sick."

"Someone said he suffered an injury during one of his games! I think he's resting."

"A few us are going to visit with some fruits, want to come?"

It'd been two weeks since Oikawa Tooru had come to school.

Chiyo sat at her desk, leaning back into the chair and gazing quietly out into the window beside her where the clouds were gathering outside, gray and fluffy, brewing up for the beginnings of rain fall for the new season.

A bandage was taped beneath her eye from where she'd sported a cut, another taped around her leg from the fall that night and several more along her back.

 _But this is nothing._

If it hadn't been for Oikawa Tooru, she would be nothing more than a pancake on the schoolyard floor.

It'd been two weeks since Oikawa Tooru had revealed to her that he was a ghoul and had attempted to eat her before ending up saving her life that night when she'd tried to jump off the rooftop.

Two weeks since she'd almost died.

When Chiyo had come too in a hospital bed with her parents at her side, frantically asking her questions, Chiyo had been the one to ask them how'd she'd arrived. They'd claimed that one of her classmates, a handsome young man, had carried her the entire way to the hospital, sporting injuries of his own with a claim that the two of them had nearly been hit by a truck. Her mother had said it was a hit and run and vowed to find the culprit who tried to kill her daughter and said she'd thanked her handsome classmate, but he'd left before checking into the hospital himself.

Chiyo had simply burst into tears moments after, sobbing apologies and promises to her family that she loved them no matter what, the after realization that she could've very well died that night sinking in and weighing heavily in her heart and in her mind.

 _Could she really become a ghoul investigator?_

A few days after hovering around her parents and hugging them so much her father had finally joked that she was acting as if they'd been the ones to almost die and not herself. Chiyo finally sobered up and swallowed, trying to stifle the fears threatening to rise in her chest, the memory of crimson eyes and a ferocious smirk still fresh in her mind blending with the same face that had morphed into one of fear and hope and wonder all at once. She had to face him. She had a goal, and if she wanted to get anywhere near to accomplishing it, then she had to take a step forward, no matter how small.

But when she'd arrived at school, Miya there to greet her happily and explain her absence, she'd also learned that Oikawa had been absent for several days now. Chiyo, hating that she'd been a little relieved to hear that, figured he must've had it worse off than her. _He saved your life after all, a fall like that, even for a ghoul can't be too easy..._

 _Even for a ghoul..._

But days turned into a week. And as Chiyo's confidence grew, Oikawa never showed, her eyes constantly drawn to the empty desk beside Iwaizumi where others girls in the class looked longingly toward.

Oikawa never showed.

" _You think I can go back to a normal life after this?"_

 _ **He tried to eat you.**_

Chiyo swallowed, standing up abruptly and making her way to the group of girls huddled by the front of the room, plastering her best smile.

 _ **He saved you.**_

"Do you guys happen to know Oikawa-san's address?"

* * *

 _I'm afraid._

Chiyo swallowed, her hand gripping the plastic bag of peaches even tighter, a gift from her mother when she heard Chiyo was heading over to thank the boy that saved her.

 _If he's a ghoul then that also means..._

Shaky fingers reached upwards, eyes focusing intently on the small button leading to the house before her. She swallowed once more and pushed forward, a chiming bell ringing out around her as she felt her blood run cold.

Who would answer, she wondered. His mother? Father? That meant they were all ghouls then, didn't it? Chiyo felt her face pale and she felt sweat begin to build up along her palms, trailing down the side of her face and down her neck. _Maybe I'll just leave a note and—_

Hazel eyes met her gaze evenly, slightly round with surprise as Chiyo froze.

 _He tried to eat you. He tried to eat you. He tried to eat you. He tried to eat you._

"Thankyouforsavingmeherearesomepeaches!" Chiyo blurted, tossing the bag his way and turning on her heel, face deathly pale as she made to run off.

A firm hand clamped down onto her collar, jerking her backwards and Chiyo let out a choked cry when she found herself tumbling backwards through a doorway. Her butt hit sleek wooden floors and she groaned, rubbing her back and looking up dazed for a moment when realization struck her.

A gentle, resounding _click_ echoed loud throughout the entire household. The lock of a door. Chiyo's heart began to pound loudly in her chest, wild and rapid as she held her breath, Oikawa's face unreadable and peaches scattered around them, bright and pink and round.

"You must honestly be crazy," Oikawa said softly, turning fully to face her as Chiyo's heart dropped and a face half shadowed by the lighting in the house, cool and unreadable. "Willingly coming to the house of someone you know is a ghoul."

 _He tried to eat you._

"Bringing peaches as thanks... Is that really what you meant to bring?" His knees hit the floor. Chiyo found herself drowning in deep, intoxicating dark chocolate eyes as Oikawa brought himself closer to her, settling in between her legs and bringing his face closer to her own.

"Or did you mean to bring yourself?"

 _He'll kill you._

" _They're monsters."_

" _No mercy."_

" _We mean nothing to them."_

Hazel turned deep crimson, red sinking into pools of black as Chiyo remained frozen, shaking like a leaf as Oikawa's lips drew closer to her neck.

"There's no going back now, Chi-chan."

A beautiful shade of purple flashed before her eyes, a look of calm disinterest.

"You asked for this."

" _I'm not hungry."_

Not all ghouls are bad.

Chiyo grit her teeth, eyes flashing as she lunged forward, grabbing Oikawa by the head. His eyes went wide and Chiyo brought their two heads together in resounding _smack_ , forehead smashing into forehead.

"Are you _crazy?_ " Oikawa exclaimed, gripping his now throbbing head as tears pricked in the corners of his eyes. "What the hell was that for? I'm still injured too you know!"

"How dare you try and eat me after everything we've been through!" Chiyo snapped back, tears pooling in her eyes from where pain blossomed on the bright red mark on her forehead. "You think I let you save me just so you can eat me again? _Idiot_!"

"What do you want me to do?" Oikawa threw his arms up in the air. "You already know what I want to do—what I am. You come here to my house alone expecting nothing to happen? What did you even _think_ was going to happen—"

"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life even though you were the one to put it in danger in the first place!" Chiyo said angrily. "Those peaches are fresh from our tree, be more respectful!"

Oikawa muttered something under his breath and Chiyo tossed a peach angrily his way, only to have it smacked out of the air as Oikawa turned. "You're not even worth eating at this point anymore, probably too sweet from all the junk you eat."

Chiyo grit her teeth, refraining from punching the teen in front of her because she still remembered that despite his personality he was still a being capable of killing her right then and there. She had a mission she needed to accomplish.

"You've said your thanks." Oikawa sighed, looking off to the side in annoyance, a sight Chiyo found strangely intriguing since he was always smiling or smirking, it was rather charming to see such a normal side of him. "Just go before I really do rethink eating you."

 _Why did you save me? What made you change your mind? What was the point? Did what I said get through to you? Do you think that maybe..._

 _The world I want to make is possible?_

"Come back to school."

"What?" Oikawa turned, eyes wide with surprise as Chiyo met his gaze evenly.

"Come back to school," Chiyo said once more, firmer. "You've been gone too long. Come back before it gets too hard to make anything up."

Something shifted in Oikawa's chest, a feeling he had never felt before.

 _Why haven't you turned me in yet? Are you trying to blackmail me? What do you want? Why did you do something so stupid and reckless? You don't make sense._

 _Why are you making me wonder about something I never thought was possible?_

"All the girls keep complaining about how long you've been gone and everyone's worried—"

"I'm not coming back."

"Why not?" Chiyo's brows furrowed and Oikawa rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair.

"It should be obvious." Oikawa's eyes lazily landed on her. "It'll be too suspicious around here now, with the way things are I can't stay. I can't be too careless—"

"Why would anyone need to be suspicious?" Chiyo asked quietly.

"With the damage at the school, I have friends who can only do so much. I'll have to leave—"

"I won't tell anyone!" Chiyo blurted suddenly and Oikawa paused, turning to her as if she'd gone mad. "I won't tell a single soul that you're a ghoul—I won't tell anyone! I'll help you. I'll keep it a secret, help you get out of tough situations now that I know. I'll—"

"Chi-chan," Oikawa began quietly. "You do realize I can always just make it so that you can never tell anyone, right?"

"But you won't have too," Chiyo said simply, not missing a beat. Chiyo stood, looking down at a wide eyed Oikawa as she pressed a hand to her chest, meeting his gaze unwaveringly. "I swear on my life, Oikawa Tooru, that I won't tell a single soul that you're a ghoul."

 _Why?_

"You could be black mailing me."

"I won't ever hold this against you. Besides, you're the one that can just kill me too."

"There's nothing to gain."

"I don't care about gaining anything."

"You don't owe me anything."

"I know I don't."

"I tried to eat you."

"I know you did," Chiyo shakily tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, and Oikawa suddenly realized how pretty those soft irises of hers were as her lips curled upwards into a small, shy, but ever so earnest smile. "But I'm just a stupid girl with a dream she wants to make come true."

Oikawa Tooru did not know why that night he had decided to save the girl he'd meant to eat.

There were all kinds of unspoken rules for ghouls. Rules that were meant to help keep them alive, rules meant to survive. Showing mercy to prey was not something that anyone should do, no matter what. Fear was powerful. Fear made the weakest of prey strong and even ghouls weren't invincible at the hands of black briefcases and deaths with weapons that were of their own.

They all lived in unspoken fear of not being able to exist in a world that seemed to hate them from the start.

He didn't have time to worry about other people.

Oikawa Tooru never could figure out after spending days thinking on it, why those tearful eyes and earnest smile had moved him to the point of risking his own life to save someone who was supposed to be nothing more than a meal. She was not a person. She was food. Food was not meant to be cared for and saved.

Food was not supposed to make him feel this way.

His arms still ached. There were still wounds that needed to recover from taking the brunt of the fall that even his advanced healing powers couldn't fix overnight. Iwa-chan had cursed him for days and days on end for being so careless and it was really annoying to be lectured for what he had tried to do. There had been nothing to gain that night in saving Chiyo Akisame's life.

And then he remembered that in the midst of Iwaizumi's cursing when he'd arrived on the scene after Oikawa had shattered the ground with his kagune, trying to cushion their fall with the soft and fragile body pressed to him, small fingers, warm and dirty had reached upwards and gripped his collar as tightly as they could.

" _Thank you."_

He doubted she even remembered what she'd said to him that night.

Oikawa suddenly stood. Chiyo blinked, taking a wary step back as he gazed at her, eyes intent and burning with the conviction of a man on a mission. "O-Oikawa-san?"

The words that had left her lips had stirred something inside of him.

Oikawa strode forward, closing the gap between them as Chiyo's eyes went wide, fear suddenly coloring her features. "D-Don't tell me that after all that you'll still—"

"Chi-chan!" Oikawa grasped Chiyo's hands firmly in his own, eye shining.

"Go out with me!"

...

...

...

"What?"

"Go out with me!" Oikawa exclaimed brightly, eyes shining as a wide smile touched his lips. "You said you'd help me out, didn't you? Think about it! If we dated then you'd understand why I can't eat human food and complain that all I ever drink is coffee—"

"N-No!" Chiyo snapped back quickly, cheeks dusting a bright and delicious red— _ah, how cute_ —"I said I'd help you and keep your secret but this is asking for too much!"

"Come on, Chi-chan! I'd make you the happiest girl in the world—"

"No! I don't want to go out with someone who eats people!"

"I thought you said you understand me! Was that all a lie?"

"N-No but—"

"Go out with me!"

"Where the hell did this even come from? I thought we were having a serious moment!"

"I'm dead serious—"

"This is _not_ serious!"

In the end, in a strange and odd turn of events, Chiyo did not end fighting for her life that day, but for her to try and remain single.

Of course, it took a while for the two of them to ever truly be at ease, and it wasn't as though Oikawa could simply bet his entire life on the hope that Chiyo would never really tell anyone about what he was.

But days turned to weeks and weeks turned into months, and no men with briefcases ever came knocking at his door with the intent of ending his life. Chiyo remained at his side, laughing, yelling, and smiling. Of course the day eventually came where Iwa-chan found out about Chiyo's knowledge, which had led to several other events and to Oikawa's dismay Chiyo and Iwaizumi getting oddly close over their mutual understanding that Oikawa was someone they had to watch out for.

Oikawa realized he had something beyond his own life to lose.

Chiyo understood that she'd taken a step forward, whether or not it was in the right direction she didn't know, but for now, she settled for this.

 **Omake: Chiyo's Journey to becoming an Investigator Part I**

"What is that?"

Chiyo grimaced as she swallowed, arching a brow and turning to meet Oikawa's horrified and disbelieving gaze. Beside her Iwaizumi was nursing a black coffee with an irritated look on his face and Chiyo spoke around the fork in her mouth.

"A salad."

Oikawa suddenly looked as if he'd been struck across the face, jolting back in surprise. "W-What?"

Chiyo looked at the bowl of leafy greens, idly disappointed herself and wishing it were soft mounds of doughy bread or something far more savory, but a promise was a promise and since she wasn't currently being digested in Oikawa's stomach or a flattened pancake on the schoolyard floor, Chiyo had some business to take care of.

She needed to lose weight.

"It's a salad," Chiyo sighed. "It's not that bad actually, a little refreshing but I still like—"

"Why are _you_ eating a salad?" Oikawa inquired incredulously, disbelief flashing across his face as a wary look suddenly seemed to begin to follow as well, eyes narrowing.

"Because I'm fat." Iwaizumi choked, nearly snorting out his coffee as he pounded against his chest but didn't deny the truth and Chiyo continued, "and I need to lose weight for the academy try outs."

"The what?"

"The try outs."

"For what?"

"For the academy."

"What academy?"

Chiyo's brow twitched and Oikawa whined and complained at Iwaizumi for chucking his coffee can at him, to which the other quickly snapped that he was being an annoying idiot. Chiyo attempted to lift the fork back to her mouth and hands suddenly slammed down on her desk and she jolted in surprise as Oikawa bore down on her, an intense and serious look covering his features.

"Chi-chan."

"Y-Yes?"

"I love you just the way you are," Oikawa grabbed her hand which held the fork, causing the utensil to fall as he cradled the hand in his own and brought his face closer to hers, eyes heated with the flames of whatever passionate emotion was flittering through his head. "You don't need to change for anyone!"

"I'm not changing for anyone," Chiyo began slowly. "I'm changing for myself."

"Who told you that you were fat?" Oikawa growled, eyes flashing as he gripped her hand tighter. "I'll beat up anyone for you Chi-chan—"

"There's no one you need to beat up," Chiyo easily picked her hand from his and grabbed her fork again, stabbing a mound of leafy greens and Oikawa jerked back at the action. "I need to lose weight. I have to be fit if I want to be able to run and—"

"But Chi-chan, you have no reason to run from me! I'll always catch you no matter how hard you try—Iwa-chan that _hurt_!"

"Stop saying such creepy shit you piece of trash!" Iwaizumi snapped and Oikawa pouted angrily, eyes tearing up as he stared Chiyo down with heated hazelnut irises.

"I need to be able to chase after other ghouls," Chiyo began seriously and Oikawa laughed haughtily, placing a hand on his chest.

"The only ghoul you need to be chasing is— _ack,_ Iwa-chan...I can't... breathe..."

"It's not going to be easy but I'll do my best," Chiyo sighed, looking sadly at the pile of leaves in front of her before she turned to her oddly enough, two close friends. "Please help me out however you can."

"Oh, I'll help you out," Oikawa began slowly, a glint in his eye as his lip curled up in an almost sinister smile. "I'll make sure that you never feel like you need to lose weight and forget about joining that awful and ugly place—"

"I don't really approve regardless," Iwaizumi drawled, smashing Oikawa's head into the desk as Chiyo blinked at the increasingly common sight before her. "But I can work out with you to help you get in shape, there's nothing wrong with that."

Chiyo's eyes brightened, cheeks flushing slightly as she reached over, clasping Iwaizumi's hands in her as the other male blushed, looking startled by the sudden action. "Iwaizumi, you really are the best! No—you're like a god! Thank you so much—"

"No fair!" Oikawa flailed, launching himself between the two and gathering Chiyo up in his arms as he plastered her face against his chest, muffling her cries. "Iwa-chan you're _my_ best friend! You can't participate in this battle for Chi-chan's heart—it belongs to me!"

"Since when?" Iwaizumi blinked, looking simply annoyed by the whole ordeal and Oikawa sniffed, head held proudly as he smirked.

"Since Chi-chan promised to help keep the truth about me a secret and dedicate her life to me! So she has no time to be going to places to become a _ghoul investigator_ and she surely doesn't need to lose any weight!"

Needless to say, within a span of several months, Chiyo had dropped all her extra weight much to Oikawa's dismay and annoyance.

* * *

 **Now time to get back to the original plot! :D I wanted to throw in a little background here because it felt important to explain the background between Chiyo and Oikawa. There will be more throughout the story as certain characters are introduced, but as of right now, I can't thank you guys enough for all the kind words left behind and great ideas sent my way about this story!**

 **I hope this is still a little in tact with Oikawa's character. The last part is mostly for the sake that Oikawa really does begin to fall in love with Chiyo despite everything, a being the rather childish kind of character he is, his reaction made the most sense.**

 **Thank you so much for even taking an interest in this weird little whim of mine. :)**

 **I see already that many of you are curious about the child ghoul Chiyo first encountered, and I can at least tell all of you that no, it is not Oikawa, but I'll leave it up to you guys to figure out who it might be ;) He's someone who's very important to Chiyo right now in her goals for sure~**

 **THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR TAKING THE TIME OUT TO READ AND REVIEW AND JUST BE WONDERFUL PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT THIS LOSER RIGHT HERE :')**

 **LOVE YOU ALL MUCHO.**

 **Marshmellow-**

 **-OUT!**


	4. Al Dente

**Thank you all for all your massive support :,)**

 **I do not own Haikyuu!**

* * *

 **Acquired Taste**

Chapter Four:

Al Dente

" _A term to describe pasta that is cooked until it offers a slight resistance to the bite."_

* * *

"And with the information we've gathered presently, the Grand King, otherwise known as the binge eating ghoul presiding over one of the many ghoul gangs in the Miyagi district, was not responsible for the recent casualties of cases—"

"Then what ghoul was?"

"It was a rogue ghoul sir, one that didn't belong to a faction—"

"How many of these _gangs_ are there now?"

"Well, the amounts are varying but so far we have a total of—"

"If we know where they are why aren't we launching any raids?"

"That's a rather brash statement—"

"Akisame," Chiyo bit down on her lip, waiting with her back straightened and shoulders squared as she gripped the stack of papers in her hands. Notes she had prepared for her mission briefing with the higher ups at the CCG in hopes of sharing some new information and light on the recent cases. "Where are you going with this briefing?"

Ukai was giving her a warning look from across the table, wary and clearing urging her to wrap this up before things got out of hand. Beside him Takeda kept a well natured smile despite the sweat dripping down the side of his face, eyes shifting nervously to the various commanders before him. Chiyo swallowed as she adjusted her papers.

"To sum up all of my recent findings, it would appear that a majority of these ghoul gangs are...regulating themselves. That is to say, they aren't attacking humans without any reason. Despite the binge eater's habits, our intel has solidified the Grand King only targets specific people with no real impact upon their death. The same goes for several of the other ghouls that seem to be a part of the Seijoh faction."

The room was silent upon her explanation and Chiyo's eyes brightened, heart thudding a little faster in her chest as she quickly continued, "All in all, with the new information we've been gathering, it's possible that a small minority of ghouls are forming communities of sorts instead of gangs, regulating themselves and setting boundaries and territories—"

"So you mean to say," a heavy sigh came from one of the higher branch heads. "That they're establishing hunting grounds and protecting their territory."

"That's not really the right term—" Chiyo started, but the men around her quickly broke off and began to chatter amongst themselves, considering the possibility of a future raid and if more intel could be found on these gangs.

"What I mean to say—" Chiyo started once more, a little louder this time. "Is that perhaps these ghouls are trying to find a way to coexist—"

"Akisame," Chiyo froze and the men around the room gazed at her pointedly, eyes unshifting despite the sympathy in Ukai and Takeda's gazes. "That will be all for today, thank you."

A lump formed in her throat and Chiyo respectfully lowered her head and bowed, gripping her papers tightly in her hands.

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"Stupid old farts who don't even know what they're talking about," Chiyo spat out, angrily twirling pasta around her fork as she shoved it roughly into her mouth. "Who do they even think they are? They don't know everything about ghouls—bet they haven't even picked up a single textbook about them—"

"Don't chew with your mouth full, that's disgusting," Iwaizumi scrunched up his nose, giving her an obvious look of disgust to get his point across and Chiyo looked at him in disbelief.

"I'm twying to saf your wuf and thwis ish whuf I get?"

Iwaizumi scowled, brow twitching and Chiyo chewed somewhat dejectedly, her grip loosening on her fork as her gaze traveled downwards and she swallowed. "They just need to understand that maybe the times are changing now and things are a little different... Stuff that wasn't possible before could be possible now."

A heavy sigh left Iwaizumi's lips and he brought his cup of coffee to his lips. "These things don't happen overnight, you know."

People went along their way down the bustling streets. The small café tucked in the corner was where the two former classmates and now companions resided, people from all walks of life strolling past, unaware that at this table one human and one ghoul resided, at peace. Occasionally Iwaizumi's eyes strayed, brows either relaxed or narrowed depending on the type of ghoul that walked past, blending into the crowd with ease. Chiyo watched this action with mild interest, wondering what it was like to be able to spot on of your own with such ease. All she'd been taught were to pick up the tale tell signs they taught them at the academy.

The two tried to meet up whenever they could. Things were getting a little more rowdier according to Iwaizumi and some of the neighboring ghouls were getting a little more daring with their attacks into Seijoh territory. She didn't doubt that the ghouls of Aoba Josai could hold their own, but the last scrimmage they'd had not too long ago with some of their younger ghouls getting into a fight with a few ghouls from Nekoma didn't make things any better. She liked Iwaizumi a lot to begin with and considering him someone extremely precious to her so she tried to do whatever she could to station one or two less investigators in their area.

"I know," Chiyo reached for her own cup of coffee—she used to hate coffee when she was younger but when your two closest friends in high schools were ghouls you learned to like different things. "But I keep trying and trying and it feels like we never get anywhere so long as they're in power."

"Then maybe someone should go and off those guys so you can shake things up a bit," Iwaizumi muttered and Chiyo choked, looking at him with wide eyes when a rare grin cracked the corner of his lips, eyes glittering somewhat teasingly.

"Come on, Hajime, I don't need you giving me problems either," Chiyo groaned, rubbing her head between her fingers as she added, "The higher ups are really craving another raid soon and I'm doing everything I can to keep these two rookies we recently got out of my books so they don't go spouting something about the boundaries I've been trying to map out."

Iwaizumi's eyes narrowed at that and he threw her a reprimanding gaze. "You haven't been venturing out again, have you?"

"I need to figure out the boundary lines—"

"I can draw those out for you, easy." Iwaizumi said roughly and Chiyo winced at the change in tone. "You know that's just asking for trouble by going out on your own—"

"If the Ace of Aoba Josai goes sauntering into enemy territory, that could make things much worse than one little dove poking her nose where it doesn't belong." Chiyo said gently, trying to steer them away from this topic because she was very aware of how Iwaizumi felt about it. "Everyone's been so on edge lately, who knows what could set someone off—"

"Chiyo." Chiyo flinched and looked up, those steely eyes she knew she could always rely on were pinning her in place.

"I know," she said softly.

Iwaizumi's eyes softened slightly and he sighed, leaning back in his chair and pinching the bridge of his nose as Chiyo brought a sad scoop of pasta noodles to her mouth once more, chewing halfheartedly.

"Did the two of you make up yet?"

Once more Chiyo choked, eyes bulging out of her head as she coughed roughly and Iwaizumi watched in a mixture of mild amusement and disgust as she coughed up a noodle and cleared her throat with a rough pat to her chest.

"W-What do you mean by that?" She tried nonchalantly, but Iwaizumi's unimpressed look left no room for her to wriggle and she grimaced, biting into another forkful roughly.

"I thought at least you would be more mature about this," Iwaizumi grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It's not like it's as bad as it was awhile back," Chiyo leaned back in her chair, looking to the side with a small pout. "Besides, he's the one acting like a child."

Iwaizumi simply grunted and Chiyo sighed. "I know now that what happened back then was my fault, but it's no excuse for him to act the way he did because of it."

"You can say that again," Iwaizumi grumbled, taking another swig. "Annoying bastard won't let me live down how we meet up regularly."

"If just wanted to talk like normal people he could always set it up himself," Chiyo muttered under her breath. A small smile touched her lips and she stretched her arm, reaching across the table with her mug and offering a small smile.

"Stay safe, okay?"

His eyes flickered and he reached across the table with his own cup, clinking the two together as his eyes softened ever so slightly.

"You too."

* * *

"Neh, Akisame-senpai, what does this mean over here?"

Chiyo perked up, pushing her swivel chair out from her cubicle where she had been mapping out new lines and leaving open marks where she wasn't sure of certain boundaries. Her eyes landed on where Kageyama and Hinata were looking troubled over a series of lines marked across the board and Chiyo peered further outwards, humming in understanding.

"The lines here mark where the most recent attacks have occurred in our district," Chiyo began easily, eyes lighting up at the thought of a chance to educate her peers. "These ones over here are the ones I've personally been mapping out and figuring out for myself from careful observation, this red one here marks where the ghoul group known as Nekoma moves the most. The blue ones over here belong to the Aoba Josai group and—"

"How come these aren't on all the maps?" Hinata inquired, looking truly astounded by this fact. "It's such good information!"

"Because most of the higher ups don't like seeing maps like these unless it means a way for them to eradicate more ghouls," Chiyo sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she shook her head.

With a grimace she caught sight of a new bouquet of flowers on the corner of her desk and she reached over, prepared to dump them once more into Tanaka's trashcan when she caught sight of who it was from and paused, blinking in surprise before she set them down and gazed at them in slight awe. There was a shuffle to her right and she quickly turned to find Tsukishima and Yamaguchi peering over at the map as well, files and papers in their hands with their briefcases leaning against the table on the floor.

"Well, with information like this, it would be plenty easy to narrow spots down and launch a raid," Kageyama said thoughtfully, brows furrowed. "Especially with the Grand King out on the loose—"

"They haven't done anything wrong."

The four new recruits looked up in surprise as Chiyo met their gaze evenly, unwavering. "They haven't done anything wrong, so why should we go and launch a raid on them?"

"Haven't done anything wrong?" Tsukishima snorted, looking at her as though she'd gone mad. "You mean eating humans and picking people off the street isn't a crime?"

"They can't help what they have to do to survive," Chiyo said firmly, eyes shining brightly as she gripped a stack of papers in her hand, names and notes scribbled all over on different ghouls. "We can't blame them for what they have to do—cows and chickens don't blame us for eating them."

"Cows and chickens can't fight back like we can," Tsukishima retorted breezily.

Chiyo narrowed her eyes at the tall blonde, his brows set and giving her a look that clearly was meant to use his height to undermine her seniority. Yamaguchi suddenly looked nervous, glancing back and forth between the two of them as he opened up his mouth to break the tension when Kageyama suddenly spoke up.

"Akisame-senpai, why are you so obsessed with helping ghouls if you're a ghoul investigator?"

There was a brief pause before Chiyo sighed, leaning back into her desk and setting the papers down beside her.

"The title of ghoul investigator doesn't imply that we're people who hunt ghouls, it implies that what we're here to do is to investigate and discover _more_ about ghouls," Chiyo idly reached downwards, rubbing her ankle where a thin scar remained and she added, "besides, I know firsthand from experience that not all ghouls are like what we thought they were."

"You're talking about the time you were rescued by a ghoul, right?" Hinata began, eyes growing wide with excitement. "I remember that story! I-I'm not really sure where I stand on this whole ordeal just yet, but if there's anything I can do to help make a world like that possible, I want it to happen!"

"Hinata you moron, what could you ever do?"

"S-Shut up, King! I scored higher than you on the quinque match up anyway!"

"W-What was that?"

"And I scored higher than _both_ you idiots," Tsukishima chimed in, and the two shot around, dirty glares plastered over their faces as Tsukishima snickered, leering down at them. "If you two really want to make a difference, maybe you should see if you can still even pass the reentry exam for next year."

Chiyo sighed through her nose, looking at the rookies in front of her with an air of fondness. Hopefully it was with this new generation that some real change would start to happen.

"But Akisame-senpai," Chiyo blinked, looking at Yamaguchi in surprise as he took a seat beside her, curious. "How would you even begin to start with a world where ghouls and humans could live together?"

Chiyo's eyes brightened like stars and she eagerly leaned forward. "Well, it would have to start with—"

"Don't go getting her started now, Yamaguchi," the two looked up, Chiyo frowning as Sugawara appeared in the doorway of the office, a small smile on his face. "Otherwise you'll never get away."

"And we have better things to do than listen to the ravings of a lunatic," Tsukishima added, Chiyo throwing him a look of indignation.

"Let's not forget who the ranking officer here is—"

"Yes, yes, you've worked very hard to get to where you needed to be," Sugawara began idly, gathering up Chiyo's things as he started to usher her out the door. "Now come and join your coworkers for a drink, you need a break."

"But I need to finish the presentation for the board on ghoul gangs and communication between—"

"Yes, yes, you can do all of that after a beer first."

"Suga you know I knock out after the first few!"

"That's the plan!"

The four newly recruited ghoul investigators were left to watch as Chiyo was hurriedly ushered out of the office, Sugawara only popping back in to wave and wish them all a good night before he shut the door after them, Chiyo's muffled cries reaching their ears.

"Must be nice to be so carefree," Tsukishima mused.

"W-Well, Akisame-san does put in more office hours than most of us here," Yamaguchi said.

"She didn't say we didn't have to stop looking through her data!" Hinata cried out loud, eyes brightening as he quickly rushed over to the bursting files. "Akisame-senpai always has the best information!"

"You idiot! We're not allowed access to those files yet!"

Regardless, the four ended up crowded around the little office for a vast majority of the night until Kiyoko on her way out from the reception office had to remind them all of the early morning training they had scheduled the next day.

* * *

"Stupid Suga— _hic_ —stupid Sawa—hic—stupid Asa," Chiyo sniffled, stumbling slightly as she rubbed her blurry eyes. A yawn escaped her lips, only to be followed by another hiccup as she groaned, pressing the back of her cold hands to her now flushed cheeks.

Her fellow workers had once again forced several glasses down her throat under the pretense that she needed to let loose and have a good time once and awhile otherwise she'd end up old and wrinkled at this rate. And as kind as the notion was, she already had a sinking suspicion that it was just to get her tired and buzzed so she'd knock out instead of pulling another all-nighter. Though catching up with the three of them had been nice and heartwarming to an extent, Sawamura had mentioned a new string of attacks recently and the mood had instantly grown a little more somber.

 _I want to believe in a world where maybe we can coexist one day too._ Daichi's words echoed loudly in her ears as she trailed her hand along the brick wall beside her, eyes lowered to the floor. _It's just hard sometimes when you see what they can do._

 _I wish there didn't have to be a they and an us._ Chiyo sighed, rubbing her temples for what seemed like the hundredth time that day.

Needless to say Sugawara had instantly picked up the mood and reminded all of them that they weren't getting any younger and should consider going out on a date sometime. The four of them all wistfully considered the notion before agreeing they were all poor workaholics who were going to die single and alone.

 _I'm just glad I live so close to the bar._ Chiyo mused, stumbling past an alleyway where a cat peered at her amidst a pool of blood and trash bags. _It makes so much easier to remind them I can at least walk myself home alone at night._

Chiyo drew to a rough halt, blinking once at the empty though well lit street in front of her. A pair of older women were walking along the other side of the street, groceries in hand as they chattered to themselves.

She idly glanced to the thin watch on her wrist—a gift from Iwaizumi a couple years back—and once more felt her warming cheeks, reassuring herself how inhibited she might be.

...

...

...

 _That wasn't a cat._

Turning on her heel and shooting back to the alley she'd just barely passed, Chiyo huffed, chest heaving up and down as her eyes darted around and locked her pale gaze with deep and vibrant crimson, a startled look settling onto the face in front of her. His hair was a soft blonde, dyed by the looks of his roots growing out again at the top. His complexion was milky, a slender and young face, probably still in college or around Kageyama and Hinata's age.

 _Ghoul_.

Before she could open her mouth those crimson irises instantly narrowed and lips pulled back into an almost feral snarl. The sound of blood hitting the floor intensified and Chiyo scrambled back just as a pale red kagune shot out towards her. Her eyes went wide and she leapt to the side as the man in front of her stumbled, standing as he clutched his bleeding shoulder and growled somewhere low in his throat, eyes glowing brightly in the darkness of the alley.

"W-Wait!" Chiyo cried out frantically. "I'm not trying to hurt you—" a surprised screech left her lips as a second kagune whipped out. "I can help!"

Those eyes never left her form for a second, only seeming to sharpen as his kagune reeled back. They were two slim tails, pointed at the end and reminding her idly of a cat as they swayed back and forth. Her eyes quickly snapped to the deep and bloody gash that drew from his chest and over his right shoulder, dripping profoundly. Even with ghouls' regenerative abilities, if it was still bleeding that much he must've been in deep trouble.

 _I gotta think fast._ Chiyo's eyes darted around wildly before she realized the heavy weight against her hip.

Without wasting another second she quickly whipped out her custom guns, the ghoul's eyes in front of her narrowing as his lips pulled back, his kagune drawing back to shoot forward once more when she quickly tossed the guns to the ground. Chiyo threw her hands into the air, knees hitting the floor as she kept her hands raised above her head.

"I swear to god I'm not here to hurt you! I just want to help!"

There was a deafening silence, the only sound echoing through the dark alleyway was blood dripping onto the concrete floor.

Chiyo dared a glance upwards and felt relief spark in her when the ghoul was monetarily paused, staring at her guns and at her in what looked to be confusion and disbelief, his kagunes waving uncertainly.

 _This is my chance!_

"M-My name's Akisame—Chiyo Akisame!" Chiyo quickly began, pressing a hand to her chest as she sat on the back of her legs. "I-I'm a ghoul investigator but I don't even carry a quinque on me—I promise! My goal is to find a way for ghouls and humans to coexist peacefully!"

A brief pause, Chiyo's arms trembling as she slowly peered upwards and blinked once in surprise.

Eyes that had once been a deep crimson revealed to be a startlingly bright shade of gold—cat like almost. Her breath caught in her throat and she blinked in surprise as the ghoul in front of her seemed startled, his kagunes swishing along the floor, uncertain.

 _Your eyes are so pretty._

A blush shot across his cheeks and Chiyo slapped her hands over her mouth, eyes growing wide. _Oops._

"...why?"

His voice was soft, barely above a whisper and Chiyo felt a wide smile split her lips, eyes earnest as she grinned.

"Because not all ghouls are bad."

His body trembled once and his eyes suddenly rolled into the back of his head. Chiyo's eyes went wide and she quickly dove forward, barely catching him before he fell as his kagune retracted. She lost her breath at the sudden weight in her arms and grimaced, struggling to prop him up as she glanced from where they were to the entrance of the alleyway.

 _This is not going to be easy._

* * *

 **Omake: Chiyo's Journey to becoming an Investigator Part II**

"If you're really serious about losing weight then you're going to need to start by getting rid of these."

Chiyo felt her lips tremble, tears beginning to prick at the corner of her eyes as Iwaizumi idly shuffled through her snack cabinet drawer, setting out boxes of pocky and other various sweet treats that helped her pack the few rolls extended over her skirt. Her parents had taken to Iwaizumi warmly, his no nonsense personality was charming in his own Iwaizumi way and he was polite, so they were quick to open their doors—little did they know their daughter was running around with ghouls for friends.

Of course, Oikawa had been quick to introduce himself to the family as well, charming her mother off the bat.

Iwaizumi had texted her, telling her to get dressed in clothes she was comfortable working out in. Clad in spandex shorts and a loose baggy shirt with her hair pulled back into a pony tail, tears threatened to fall as Iwaizumi piled snacks after snacks into a plastic trash bag and closed off the top without any remorse, hauling it over his shoulder and turning to her.

"We have the gym today for weekend practice so you can run laps to get warmed up."

Chiyo pitifully staggered toward the bag, trailing after Iwaizumi like a lost puppy as he added, "Our goal is to have you in top shape before the entrance exams even come around."

"But is this really necessary—"

"Yes."

Chiyo's lip jutted out and Iwaizumi turned back, her eyes growing hopeful for a moment as he extended a hand.

His palm made contact with the top of her head and he ruffled her hair.

"Let's get going."

"Y-Yessir..."

* * *

" _What is this_?"

Iwaizumi merely blinked, turning from where he had been drinking from his water bottle and observing Chiyo's times as Oikawa stood before him, fuming and ready for practice despite the panicked and horrified look on his normally suave features.

"Practice, what else would it be."

"I'm talking about _this_!" Oikawa jutted a finger to where Chiyo was running laps around the other half of the gym, panting heavily with sweat dribbling down the side of her brow. Makki and Mattsun were cheering her on along the sidelines and Iwaizumi rolled his eyes.

"She's getting in shape, there's nothing wrong with that."

"There's everything wrong with it!" Oikawa exclaimed, hands digging through his fluffy locks as they smoothly bounced back into place. "Chi-chan doesn't need to lose weight, she's perfect the way she is!"

"Not if she wants to make it into the academy."

"She isn't going!"

"Stop being so difficult." Iwaizumi's brow twitched in annoyance. "She's doing her best and working hard. As her friend you should support her."

"I support the way she is," Oikawa huffed, crossing his arms over his chest as he turned his nose upwards.

"You know," Hanamaki idly started, having returned to his team after cheering on Chiyo through one more lap. "If she really wants to lose weight fast, she should find herself a boyfriend."

"How would that help?" Iwaizumi questioned, a look of disbelief on his features while Oikawa spluttered beside him, looking horrified by the notion.

"Well, they say _you know what_ burns through tons of calories."

...

...

...

"Chi-chan~ I know a great way to help you without all this silly nonsense!"

"R-Really? How?"

"We just need— _ow_! Iwa-chan, that _hurt_! Even coach doesn't hit me like that!"

"Don't even think about it, Trashykawa!"

* * *

 **I'm so glad I finally got this chapter up.**

 **To all my regular readers, I plan on updating all my other old stories as well, it's just that right now my newer stories are the easiest to update because recently my mom and I were converting all our files from the computer onto a usb since we were getting the desktop changed. The desktop computer is where all my work and writings have been stored for the past several years, whether or posted or unpublished, and now due to the fact that the usb was damaged, the company told us they're unable to recover any of the data.**

 **So all my work from the past seven years is now gone :')**

 **Daunting as it is though I promise I don't plan to stop or anything like that, just have a little mercy on me and how long it may take to update. It's a little hard to go work on my other stories because I had so much written out and ready and now that it's all gone, it's just a little disheartening to think of rewriting all of it.**

 **But I do promise that updates will come, slow but steady.**

 **Thank you all so much for all your kind and wonderful reviews and for loving this story! I was actually thinking of making another AU for Haikyuu with an alpha and omega verse, so let me know if any of you guys would be interested in reading a story like that!**

 **SHAMELESS ADVERTISING!**

 **I recently just uploaded (another) new story for Haikyuu, it's based off The First Battle Deployment AU and I have a little clip here for you guys to see a peek of what it's about!**

* * *

 **Natsume's Guide to Crows, Owls, and Kings**

* * *

In a war-ridden dystopian society where lives are on the line, Natsume Kaito, Lieutenant of the Commander squad dares to go about her days piling together helpful and not-so-helpful tips and rules on how to survive life on the battlefield along with her brave and fearless soldiers! "Of course that's because Iwa-chan and I are in a polyamorous relationship with her!" "When did I ever agree to that?" "Trashy-kawa." Alongside her fellow dorks is what she meant. Oc/?

* * *

"Neh, Kaito-senpai?"

"Yes?" Natsume replied cheerfully, turning with some difficultly due to the extra weight she was carrying as she smiling eagerly at the younger recruit before her.

The bright orange haired boy blinked once, trying to understand the sight before him before he continued on excitedly. "Do you think you could help teach me how to wire some of these bombs? I want to learn how to diffuse them in case we ever needed too!"

"Of course!" Natsume's eyes brightened at the prospect of working with explosives and she grinned, hands busying themselves elsewhere despite the fact that she was keeping her gaze focused on the boy in front of her. "Are you free later today after warm ups?"

"Yes!" Hinata exclaimed before blinking once and adding, "Is that fine with Grand King-senpai though?"

Natsume smiled, hands busy with keeping Oikawa's face at bay as he whined against her hand, complaining that she hadn't let him kiss him in what felt like years—"I never let you kiss me to begin with, trashy-kawa!"—and she nodded. The brown haired captain was slumped over her like a sloth, arms wrapped around her shoulders as he pressed his weight down on her and Natsume staggered, holding up a shaky thumbs up.

"I-It won't be a problem at all! D-Don't worry— _ack_!"

* * *

"Had enough yet?"

"Not in the slightest! Bring it on, you owl."

"...did you just call me an owl?"

"Yeah! I mean, well, the way your hair is styled just sort of makes you look like, uh... well... Wow! I think I hear Hajime calling for me! Gotta go!"

* * *

"I can't wait anymore, Natsu-chan."

She paused, a chill running down her spine as a heated breath ghosted over the back of her nape. Natsume froze, body stilling as his heated body pressed in close behind her, hair tickling her cheeks as he bent forward, lips ghosting over her neck.

"W-What do you mean?"

"You," he purred, throaty and deep and Natsume's eyes went wide as she was spun around, hands pinning themselves on either side of her head as she gazed deeply into a hungry gaze, endless.

"I just want _you_."

* * *

"Hahaha, well of course! It's because Iwa-chan and I are in a polyamorous relationship with Natsu-chan! No one can interfere!"

"I don't remember ever agreeing to that."

"Neither do I, Trashy-kawa."

"There's nothing to agree on! It's already consensual!"

"If there's three of us, it would be trisensual then wouldn't it?"

"No, I don't think it works that way."

* * *

"I just..." Tears dripped from her eyes and she fell to the floor, gun clattering to the ground as she peered upwards, gazing at the end of a gun barrel pointed between her eyes. _How could you. How could you._

 _She could never blame him._

A slow, sad smile crawled over her lips as tears spilled from the corner of her eyes.

"I just wanted you to know I've always loved you."

 _Bang._

* * *

 **Natsume's Guide to Crows, Owls, and Kings, Enigma, and Nascent will be updated next! Thanks for all your support and I hope you enjoyed!**

 **Marshmellow-**

 **-OUT!**


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